A Witch, A Wizard and A Mechanic
by RhysThornbery
Summary: Harry's had enough. It's time to blow this popsicle stand. Turns out, leaving behind friends is harder than one might think however. And an unexpected lead towards a new life provides a surprise. Unfortunately life is rarely so simple right? Pairings: MAYBE Harry/Multi, starting off Harry/Hermione. GreaterGood!Dumbledore. Rated T may progress to M. On Hiatus.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** Well, here we are I guess. Another story, I had hoped to keep writing Number 48: Rebirth without interruption, but other ideas won't leave me alone at the moment. This is one idea which has actually worked out nicely. I guess I'll start off by telling you what to expect with all this. First off, this will be a Harry/multi story in the long run, I figured I'd get that out of the way so any who object to this can bail before they get themselves invested in the story. Second, the Dumbledore in this story is fairly seriously manipulative, leaning towards a Greater Good! Dumbledore in style. There will be some Ron and Molly Bashing, and some M rated themes. The plan at the moment is fairly fluid, as I don't want to get tied down to a time frame. I'll keep writing this as long as it's fun and as long as it feels right for the story to continue. Although I might break up the "books" into separate posted stories. Finally, INTENDED posting schedule is Monday-Saturday. Though that might slip slightly depending on events in my life.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't really know that it needs saying. But I do not, repeat, DO NOT, own Harry Potter. Anything you can identify as being specific to the published series written by JKR is obviously hers. I don't make any money of this either way. Anything relating to other series that I reference obviously belongs to it's respective creator. Only original characters and ideas belong to me. Again, it's not like I make any money off it though. This will probably be the one time I post a disclaimer.

 **Reviews:** Deeply appreciated but not by any means mandatory. Please keep this simple tenant in mind should you wish to review. Please be Respectful, as in please show the base modicum of civil courtesy you would show a complete stranger. And finally, while constructive criticism is welcome, flames are not. And if you feel the need to be harsh, well at least have the common courtesy to provide the means for me to address your concerns. Thank you.

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Escape and Evasion**

The "funny" thing about depression is that it makes

the most mundane task seem more like climbing

a mountain. The right thought in the right place

could change the world for you. Pity your mind

is always somewhere other than where

it needs to be isn't it?

-The Author

* * *

It is widely held to be a physical impossibility, or at least an improbability, to travel back through time. Indeed it has been noted that when one passes a curious but educated eye over what is known about reality and the way it works, one would apparently be able to swear that it was almost as if reality had intentionally been designed or crafted in such a way as to prohibit such an occurrence. Some would call it a built in defence mechanism for the cosmos as a whole, others might suggest it proves that something or someone created reality from the nothing of the void. And others still might say this, the notion that there might be no guiding force behind this phenomena has no meaning, which is to say no bearing on our lives, and that the fact that it has no meaning in turn has no meaning.

However some have theorized that reality may only prohibit the transmission of matter backward or forward through time. That it may in fact be possible, if nothing else, to transmit light or more accurately energy, it being a far more ephemeral thing. Indeed we know that energy exists, we observe its influence, we see the particles that give it form travel and yet it itself seems to defy such notions of physicality. So then the question becomes this, if you could send back energy can you send back information, a code, a message…thoughts?

What if a person could send back their consciousness, or a portion of it at least, to a prior incarnation of themselves? One might be able to transfer the knowledge, feelings or notions necessary to complete a task that is yet to come. One might even transfer their entire personality.

This could be happening to us all on one level or another everyday and none of us would necessarily know such a thing was occurring. Indeed it seems highly unlikely that such a thing would be occurring, as so many of us make mistakes on a regular basis.

But what about those among us who seem to always be in the right place at the right time? Those who always seem to be favoured by fortune while the rest of us fumble in obscurity? Are they brilliantly inspired all on their own, or does an outside force influence them to act at the right moment? Or their opposition to hesitate at the wrong one?

Many among the religious have commented on the strange convergence of events and happenstances that often accompany momentous events. They attribute the brilliance of a military commander, the foolishness of his foe and a chance change in the weather to the hand of the almighty. And who's to say that they're wrong? Oh it may indeed be some other force acting upon us, assuming that something is indeed influencing us at all. But perhaps it is these small hesitant proddings that give us the chance to become great.

Now, as fascinating a thought as that is, ultimately it does not matter whom the influence comes from, so long as it is a benevolent force. At least not on this plane. All that matters is that we feel its influence, and choose to act accordingly.

In a million billion realities Harry James Potter was a real, thinking, breathing human being, in a million billion realities he was a fanciful notion in the minds of others. In a million billion realities his story was told in a fanciful world created for the amusement of the masses, spanning music, art, literature, games, amusement parks… even such glories as 'fan art' and 'fan fiction'. In a million billion realities Harry did not heed the small voice in the back of his head. But in at least one, he did. This is one such story.

* * *

Harry Potter, a skinny, dark haired boy of nearly sixteen, was struggling. It wasn't the kind of struggle which could be solved with muscle and sinew. Or even the sort of struggle that occurred between a person and a trial arrayed against them. It was the sort of struggle, the sort of fight, a person houses within themselves. Many have called this sort of internal struggle a battle against personal demons. An apt phrase in this case, as Harry's problems were certainly tenacious enough in holding out against him as to be described as diabolical. As is so often the case in such struggles, it is a far harder battle than those of a more physical nature. After all what foe could better oppose one than oneself?

Harry had been battling himself - his own feelings of guilt and inadequacy - for the better part of two and a half weeks. Understandable considering what had happened. The troublesome thing about battles within one's own mind is that it is difficult to tell which thoughts are reasonable, and which are not. Which feelings are real and which are a construct of your worse natures. Harry was largely losing this struggle.

The task which had been laid before him was monumental in scope and implication. A prophecy describing a future in which he, Harry Potter, the so called Boy-Who-Lived, would face and defeat the most powerful and evil bastard Wizarding Britain had produced in living memory.

He was just a boy, and by his own measure, not even a particularly talented, bright, brave or even good looking boy.

He wasn't up to the task. He knew it, but nobody else seemed to accept that fact. They all just blindly accepted, and had faith in, the notion that a sixteen year old boy with only a handful of years worth of basic education in magic, could face a man who had outmatched and butchered almost every opponent he had ever faced. All because of a prophecy made by a strange and perhaps not entirely sane woman to a, possibly even stranger, man in the back room of a pub. Assuming that the prophecy wasn't complete hogwash to begin with, he most certainly was not equal to that kind of task, and his shoulders most certainly were not broad enough or strong enough to take that kind of burden.

That prophecy - the very same one which Harry now doubted with every fibre of his being - and one man's utterly misguided faith in the truth of it, had led to the death of Harry's Godfather, Sirius Black. But, try as he might, he couldn't discount it entirely either. After all Dumbledore was - despite his many mistakes - no fool, and he seemed to put a great deal of weight on the thing. Harry couldn't help but feel it would be foolish to ignore it entirely if for no other reason than to protect his friends.

And so it was that Harry sat up, as he had so many other times before, the night of Sunday June 24th and contemplated his dilemma. He had of course attempted to simply sleep through his latest bout of melancholy. It had worked before, so why shouldn't it now? But tonight as he sat on the edge of his bed he was faced with a crossroads. It was one he hadn't really expected to find himself at. But the universe, for once in his life decided to reach out and cut him some slack, sparking off a single sparkling light of inspiration within his mind. Such a simple thing. A simple thought, that for anyone else not in his position would have come easily. A simple choice to be made.

His first option was this. He could, as he had intended to, take a single small pill he had pilfered from the upstairs medicine cabinet and drift off to sleep as he had many times before.

Or he he could approach his problem from a different angle.

To this point Harry had seen only one way forward. To sit and wait things out until the man he had trusted above all others, finally decided to free him from his annual stay in the de facto prison also known as the Dursley household. At which point, upon obtaining release, he would see what the future held this time, and deal with it as he always had, simply taking it as it came, moment by moment. The unfortunate downside to this strategy was that the future so often held the equivalent of a knuckle sandwich or a knee to the groin for him.

But a simple, frankly obvious thought had occurred to him, seemingly out of nowhere. What if he didn't just sit and wait this time? What if, he did something about all this himself? So what if he wasn't up to living up to such a weighty prophecy? No one was, not really. After all not even Dumbledore himself had managed to defeat Voldemort. Sitting here and waiting on a miracle from heaven wasn't about to make his task any easier after all. He, Harry James Potter, would need to find a way to become equal to the task ahead of him. It was not in his character to simply not face it at all. It was a quality he should have been proud of.

He could sit and wait for someone to hand him the key to victory, or he could go searching for that key himself. Oh, the scales were still balanced against him, but perhaps he should see to fixing that himself instead of waiting on someone else to get off their wrinkled backside and do it for him.

The question coalesced in his mind, crystal clear: _Do I want to continue relying on others to show me the way? Or do I want to find the way myself?_ It was a question without an easy answer as he had relied on others in one form or another his entire life. Dumbledore, Hermione, even Ron at some points. But how could he expect to grow in such a way as to become prepared for the mission he was supposedly destined for, if he let others bear the burden for him without trying to shoulder it himself?

For many this would be an insignificant moment of inspiration, hardly worth commenting on. For Harry, it was a moment of truth.

Looking back, it certainly hadn't been his intent to have relied so heavily on others. After all he'd basically had one lesson above all others branded into his psyche by his "Oh-So-Loving" relatives: Don't be a burden. Up until now he had only taken this lesson as it had been intended by his rather unpleasant family, as an insulting comment upon his heritage and character.

But now that he looked at it from a different angle a different message came to light, one which he thought he might be able to embrace gladly: No one else should shoulder your burdens for you. It's a kindness if they choose to do so, but it should only be necessary in the circumstance when you can no longer bear the burden alone.

Oh he had no illusions that he could take on Voldemort alone, but he could become better equipped to face him and take upon himself what needed to be done.

This was an attitude that in many ways had been strongly discouraged by Dumbledore and others in his life. They had all but said explicitly that he should not not burden himself or his mind worrying about the task ahead of him. That he should not wish away his childhood. Even in less life threatening circumstances, Hermione, his best friend, had always been there to catch him when he was failing academically, a state of affairs which was frankly shameful…

He rephrased the question placed before him. _Do I rely on myself, or do I continue as I have thus far?_

When phrased like that the answer became more obvious. So blindingly obvious even he in his less than ideal frame of mind could not help but see the answer before him. An obvious problem, with an obvious solution. One which had been obscured from him until now. The way he had conducted - and allowed his life to be conducted for him - had resulted in nothing but ruin and heartbreak. One disaster followed by another with almost absurd regularity. No, he could not continue as he had. He had been fortunate in some ways.

His last, most catastrophic failure had cost him his godfather, but in all reality it should have cost him a lot more than that: his life and those of his friends. Luna had been the only one not wounded in the battle for the Department of Mysteries. Ron had been mauled and addled by floating brains of all things. Neville had broken his nose, his father's wand snapped and then he had been tortured by a madwoman. Ginny had broken her ankle…and Hermione? She had been the worst off. She'd been struck by a curse launched by Voldemort's duelling master, Dolohov. Harry had later asked about what she had been hit with. It had been a curse intended to cause massive internal bleeding in vital organs. She was fortunate she hadn't been killed outright.

No, he could not continue like this. Harry stood, pushing off the edge of the bed and pacing over to the small trash bin next to the decrepit old desk his room had been furnished with, and tossed the sleeping pill into it. It was time he stopped sleeping his choices, his time, his life away. It was time he set his own course.

* * *

A grand declaration to be sure. Admittedly perhaps a bit more grand than his actions and decisions warranted, but to him in that moment it was perfect. Of course taking control of one's own life when one has allowed it to be run for them the majority of their life was not so simple a matter. He stood proudly for a moment before a new question popped into his head. _Um—where do I start?_

And in many ways this could have been where his mission ended, where he simply gave up, fishing the pill out of the garbage and going to sleep. But instead he took the next small step, he asked the next question, a simple one. How did he wrest control of his life back from well meaning - but stubborn - individuals who would be reluctant to allow him to do so?

So he did as Hermione often suggested when he was faced with a problem to solve. He made a list. He paced over to the desk and sat in the rickety chair before pulling out a sheaf of paper and writing a short list.

 _Things in my life controlled by others:_

 _-Home. The Dursleys I suppose, or Hogwarts thanks to Dumbledore…_

 _-Clothing? Dudley's cast offs or the Hogwarts Uniform._

 _-Money? I don't get money with the Dursleys, Mrs. Weasley handles the shopping more often than not over vacation. Don't really find myself needing a lot of money while at Hogwarts do I?_

 _-Schooling? How do I pay for Hogwarts anyways? Am I paying for it? And my grades are largely thanks to Hermione's help…_

 _-Love life. What Love life? No, we're not going to talk about that mess with Cho. Blimey_

 _-My mission. Prophecy says I have no choice. And it doesn't really matter whether it's destiny or not does it? Since I'm not about to abandon the fight anyway... So I'm pretty much stuck there…_

He peered at that depressing list before sighing gustily. _I'm really not in charge of much am I? And I made a fuss about the whole Dumbledore's Army fiasco?_ He shifted the paper and started a second smaller list.

 _Things in my life I can control right this minute:_

 _-Hygiene….Yup definitely need a shower._

 _-Food. Suppose I could grab something from the fridge if I'm quiet…_

 _-State of rest. Not going to sleep right now, this is important._

 _-Where I am…_

Here he paused and considered that last one. He didn't strictly speaking need to be here. Not really, Dumbledore had of course stressed the importance of keeping himself safe, but ultimately it was just another tie binding him down. _Do I truly want to be safe? Or do I want to do what I need to, to get this thing done? Can I even actually accomplish anything staying here? I can't do magic, I have little information from the Wizarding World, and I can't easily study thanks to the Dursleys._ He thought to himself.

He pushed up out of his chair, and grabbed some clothing from his drawers, before crossing the hall to the bathroom and closing the door. He could consider that more in depth while dealing with his shower. He went over everything he'd been considering for the last half hour or so while he thoroughly scrubbing himself. Though he was interrupted as he got out of the shower by a banging on the door.

Harry sighed, and finished pulling on his clean clothes before opening the door, still towelling off his head. Aunt Petunia was standing there glaring at him irately; she always had been the lightest sleeper in the house. "What do you think you're doing, showering at this time of the night?" She demanded.

Harry just observed her blankly for a minute. The answer he had been seeking coming into his mind all at once. So he answered her honestly. "Leaving,"

She blinked at him in confusion. "Leaving?"

Harry just rolled his eyes in a mixture of exasperation and weariness, "Yes, Aunt Petunia, I'm getting dressed, I'm grabbing a bite to eat, I'm packing and then I'm leaving," he answered the obvious follow up question even though it wasn't asked. "And no, I have no intention of coming back."

It was strange considering this was likely one of Petunia's fondest dreams, but she seemed uncertain how to respond to such an declaration. He just waited patiently for her to figure it out. "Y-you can do that? Don't you have to have Dumbledore's permission to…" She asked uncertainly.

He shrugged philosophically. "Strictly speaking, yes I assume so." he allowed. "But I find myself no longer caring about that. Why should I let him run my life?" She apparently had no answer to that. "I think I'll be needing to move fast without stopping for a while once I leave here, you mind if I grab a bite to eat? Or are you intending on keeping me here, despite the fact that you clearly want nothing to do with me?" He asked a touch coldly.

Phrased like that Petunia seemed to find her bearings. She considered him shrewdly for a moment then nodded. "Go pack your things then. I'll have a sandwich and drink ready for you in a minute." She spun on her heel and bustled off to the kitchen.

He didn't bother watching her go, merely shaking his head and walking to his room to gather his belongings. Such belongings as he wished to bring with him that was at least, which were surprisingly few. He reckoned he would bring his broom, if only to have a method of getting around in an emergency, but otherwise it was just his wand, a change of clothes, the old family photo album, a few books from Defence Against the Dark Arts, the Marauder's Map, his Cloak, a couple knick knacks and the remains of the mirror Sirius had given him. At the very least he could see about repairing the thing; it could prove useful some day, in fact he could already think of one use it would be ideal for. That only left one remaining issue.

He looked across the room to Hedwig, his familiar and one of his oldest friends, was considering him with interest. It simply wasn't feasible to bring her with him on the run, he couldn't help but wonder what to do with her. Leaving her here wasn't an option. But there was also the issue of how to communicate with others if he needed them. As much as he needed his independence he didn't believe he could do this entirely on his own.

Which raised a new question. Who could he trust? Not just to take care of Hedwig in his absence but to help him without alerting Dumbledore. Sadly the pickings were slim. To his reckoning none of the Order, even those he was close with like Lupin and Tonks, would hesitate to turn him in. Well maybe the twins wouldn't, but they were busy with their own lives, as were Bill and Fleur. That really only left Ron and Hermione.

Ron was right out sadly, despite being his best mate. The boy, or perhaps man, as he was increasingly becoming, couldn't keep a secret to save his life. He wasn't especially good at loyalty, not when the cacky really hit the fan. And the bloke wasn't ambitious or driven in the least, so he wouldn't be eager to risk the easy life he had at Hogwarts, or Merlin forbid, go off the grid like Harry himself was intending.

Hermione…well that was a more complicated question. _Would she go with me if I asked? Should I even ask? Is it right to ask something like that of my friend?_ She definitely wouldn't like to be separated from Hogwarts, her schooling was her life in many ways. But…she had never shied away from doing the right thing, even when it was hard. Though she was pants at lying, she wasn't entirely incapable of keeping secrets, the third year had proven that in spades. He believed she'd learned not to blindly trust Dumbledore but he wasn't sure…

On the other hand, if she didn't come or if he didn't even ask, Merlin knew he'd probably miss her worst of all. She had been the one constant in his life basically without fail in all the years he'd known her. Oh, the incident the year previous had certainly felt like she'd abandoned him, but she had done what she had with the intent of helping him. If there was one word which described Hermione Granger down to a tee it was Loyal.

He considered that while he sat in his chair at the desk, gazing idly at his faithful bird. Before long a knock came at the door and his Aunt peeked her head in. "I see you are packed. Here's your food." She deposited the plate on the desk and bustled out without further preamble.

He took longer than was, strictly speaking, usual eating his sandwich, but that was mostly a result of how occupied his mind was with other matters. It took a while but he finally managed to rough out a plan in his head on how to attack his current problem. He handed Hedwig the last bit of meat from the meal and waited for her to finish. "Alright, Hedwig, I think I've figured out how we're going to play this. I'm going to send you to Hermione with the request that she care for you while I'm gone," he explained, "I'll include a second message asking her if I can trust her not to go to Dumbledore and to just keep it between us if I need her help." He reckoned he looked pretty barmy talking to a species bird not typically known in nature for it's brains. Well not the mundane kind anyways.

The benefits of familiar magics, he supposed. "I want you to pay attention to what she does. If she doesn't keep it to herself, refuse to return any reply, she'll still take care of you either way I'm sure. If she does try to keep it to herself but fails then bring any reply that she sends to the Tower of London courtyard on Tuesday. I'll be waiting by those ruddy big ravens they've got gadding about." He decided, as he began writing out his message to Hermione. "If she does keep it to herself and is not caught out, bring it directly to me wherever I am. Do you understand?"

The bird considered him then cocked her head in a way he knew to be the equivalent of a yes. He nodded, "If she agrees and doesn't turn me in, then I'll figure out where to meet up with her." He spent the next few minutes doing his best to word the message right, before tying it to Hedwig's leg. "Feel free to dawdle on your way over to her. I need a head start I think," he told her, and again she inclined her head at him, before allowing him to carry her to the window and release her.

He didn't have time to watch her go, instead turning and gathering his belongings so he could leave, wandering first out into the hall, and then down the dimly lit stairway. To his surprise Aunt Petunia was waiting at the bottom of them. As the two of them made their way to the front door, Harry noted a confused expression cross her face. She finally spat out what was bothering her around the time he was doing up his shoes. "What will all this mean for us?" She asked, clearly indicating herself and her husband and son.

Harry shrugged. "The defences on privet drive, assuming they meant anything at all in the first place, will last for a time before they fail all together I think. That should give you time to prepare. In all likelihood Dumbledore will insist on taking you into hiding…" He cocked his head considering. "Assuming I've not been forced to return before they fall." She had a sour expression when he mentioned that and he had to suppress the urge to become irritated. " _Look,_ on the bright side, wherever you end up you won't have to put up with me anymore."

She apparently chose to ignore the bitter tone in his voice, frowning uncertainly before jerking her head once in acknowledgement, "Very well, I suppose I should wish you good luck then."

Harry peered out the window by the door. "Depends on who's on watch tonight really. Could you do me a favour? Check out the kitchen window and tell me if you see anything in the bush across the alley?" He couldn't see anyone out front, but that didn't necessarily indicate they were not there.

She left silently, before returning a minute later. "Someone is smoking next to the bush. Seedy looking fellow..." She grumbled.

He nodded, smirking, "Figures Dumbledore wouldn't give Mundungus the boot after his last screw up…But it works out in my favour this time." He rummaged in his pack for a moment and pulled his invisibility cloak. "I'd still better make this quick though," He muttered before pulling the cloak over himself. He heard Petunia give a small gasp when he vanished.

He took a deep breath and steeled himself before resting a hand on the doorknob. "Last chance to back out Harry", he muttered. Harry shook his head, set his gaze and pulled the door open quickly before he could change his mind." and he hauled on the door pulling it open quickly and slipping out into the night. When nobody sprung out of nowhere yelling for him to stop, he decided that he'd managed to avoid notice for the moment at least. But he needed to move carefully for a while, the sound of running feet was more likely than anything to give him away. He closed the door behind him a quietly as he could and inched down the walk.

A few minutes later Harry was confident enough to begin walking at a more normal pace, and he began his journey in earnest. He felt that this should, he hoped, be the last time he ever set foot on privet drive. He had no desire to see number four ever again, and did not bother looking back over his shoulder for one last glimpse of the place. He knew that there was no avoiding his next step however, no matter the risks that would be associated with venturing there. He needed to visit Diagon Alley.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Major Thanks to both Bearmauls and Temporal Knight, who are pseudo-coauthors especially in regards to the first few chapters and who have been much appreciated Betas for this story.

 **Recommendation of the Week:** Two recommendations this week in order to inaugurate my new story. First _Harry Potter and the Rune Stone Path_ by Temporal Knight. I actually act as beta for this story! So I hope you enjoy it. And Second... _It's Always The Quiet Ones_ by PixelWriter1, a delightfully twisted and entertaining little one-shot following Luna and what happens should you insult her mother...Don't do it, just don't. That's all I'll say. *Shivers*


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:**

Let me be the first to spew vitriol against FF and it's Doc Manager. If not for it's heinousity this chapter would have come out yesterday. Reviews, are as ever appreciated but not mandatory. My update schedule is changing from Monday-Saturday, to Monday-Friday going forward to more evenly distribute the time I need to work on writing between chapters.

 **Warnings:** Mildly (very mildly) mature situations. Language.

* * *

 **Chapter 2: Boys are Stupid...**

Hermione stood before the mirror of her dimly lit room. It was still early morning, the sun was barely peeking over the rooftops and streaming in her window, so she had the lamp on too. She hated that lamp, it always gave her such a sickly cast to her already pale skin. She stared at her reflection and sighed.

She had been preparing for her morning shower, she'd stripped down to her plain pair of undergarments after her morning jog, that was before she'd caught a glimpse of herself in the reflective surface. Her scar, still an angry red, stood out across her pale torso. A parting gift from Antonin Dolohov, Death Eater, murderer and all around terrible human being. It had laid her out for the rest of a battle which had become the pinnacle of a truly terrible year at Hogwarts.

It had been less than stellar ever since leaving the school the year previous really. She'd thoroughly blown the program early on by ignoring her friend's pleas for information that summer, leaving him to deal with the fallout from the Triwizard Tournament in solitude. She had done just as Professor Dumbledore had instructed, despite her own reservations on the matter. What a monumental mistake that had been! She should have ignored the elderly wizard and done what she'd known was right instead of trusting his authority without question.

Their year had just gone down hill from there. The systematic alienation of her best friend by the greater Wizarding world had just been the beginning. Someone had actually gone so far as to arrange an attempt on his life. She remembered the horror she had felt when she'd heard about that. Then when he defended himself they made every effort to see his wand snapped and cast him from the wizarding world for it.

She had feared she'd lost him then, that she was going to lose her friend. Thankfully he'd managed to avoid that pitfall; one of Dumbledore's few timely interventions. She truly despised the wizarding media for the way they had painted her friend and Dumbledore as villains. Apparently the Prophet had never heard of the notion of an impartial press. It had caused more than a few rows in the common room once they returned to school. She, Ron and Neville had been Harry's staunchest defenders.

To make matters worse upon returning to Hogwarts they had all been afflicted not only with the worst Defence Against the Dark Arts Teacher to date, but by Harry's recurring nightmares. Umbridge was by far the worst specimen of Wizarding politicians she'd ever encountered. She'd even gone so far as to torture her students with a Blood Quill when she wasn't busy being utterly ineffectual as a teacher. Hermione hadn't been sure which she'd found more offensive at the time. The witch had even come complete with her own squad of corrupt little goons. Made up of some of Hermione's least favourite students, The Inquisitorial Squad. She'd gotten a taste of what Malfoy would be like with real power, and it had frightened her.

This state of affairs eventually culminated in Harry being lured by his greatest enemy to a top secret department in the house of the Wizarding nation's government. She'd tried to warn him, but looking back she realized she'd pressed too hard, and dismissed his concerns too readily. Instead she should have reasoned with him, a regret she carried heavily on her conscience. It was there Harry had witnessed his godfather die, and she herself had nearly died from a curse launched by the Dark Lord's hit man. A painful reminder of her mortality. If she had learned one thing this year it was this: those in power were just as fallible and corrupt as any other person on the face of the planet.

They could miscalculate and make mistakes just like anyone else. And they could be just as evil, she'd realized one didn't need to be good to gain authority. For a girl who had always looked up to authority figures for protection and as role models, it was a bitter pill to swallow. Ultimately she had been forced to...reexamine those she felt were deserving of her trust. The most jarring of these failures was Dumbledore, whom she, along with many others had come to see as unassailable as a defender of the light. But the way he'd managed Harry's welfare that year had been...less than awe inspiring.

She felt at the slightly raised skin of the curse mark. It trailed from just over her shoulder socket and down, diagonally across her chest, cutting under her bra along one of her breasts and then down to her hip. It was huge, and in her opinion more than a little unsightly. A constant reminder of all the hard lessons of the year that would likely never completely fade. The world was making less and less sense.

"Guess that's it for bikinis," she grumbled. Not that she really liked wearing them in the first place, she didn't feel attractive enough to really pull it off. Regardless, she doubted she'd heal enough that it was even an option any time in the near future. Thankfully a tapping came at the window startling her from her reveries.

She turned and spotted a familiar Snowy Owl sitting on the roof outside her window. She couldn't help it, she smiled a touch at seeing the bird. "Why hello there, Hedwig, just let me get the window," she said, hauling the pane upwards before lowering it behind the bird as she hopped through to stand beside Crookshanks who was curled up on her comforter.

"So Harry's doing well enough to send letters now is he?" Mostly she spoke to the bird because Harry did. She couldn't communicate with her own familiar as well as Harry did with that Owl. She didn't understand it; how could he be nearly telepathic with a bird and yet be utterly clueless when it came to the opposite gender?

She untied the letter from the Owl and sat at the small desk below the mirror, before opening it and unfolding it so she could read. One thing that could be said for muggle pens was they were much more legible than Wizarding Quills.

 _Dear Hermione:_

 _Sorry to bother you, but I'm afraid I need a favour or two. They're doozies, and you're not going to like them, but it's important, I swear. First I need you to keep the contents of this letter to yourself. Which I'm afraid means, no not even Dumbledore may hear of this. Perhaps especially not Dumbledore. I'm gonna have to explain a bit I suppose, you wouldn't be satisfied if I didn't give a good reason. Things have come to the point where I cannot in good conscience continue as I have. Just taking the world as it came at me, and following the lead of an old man who has refused to tell me things critical to my survival have lead to disaster after disaster. I nearly lost you in the Department of Mysteries, Hermione. I was arrogant and reckless yes, but maybe if I had known the secrets he had been keeping I would_ _'_ _ve been able to think more clearly.) I may have nearly lost you, and I did lose Sirius._

 _He was so important to me, Hermione, and I can't just ignore what lead to it. If I had lost you too...well it doesn't really bear thinking upon. As it is you'll have a scar for the rest of your life because of my mistakes._

 _Long story short? I'm making changes, I'm leaving, whether or not this just means the Dursley's or the UK in general I don't know, but either way, I'm not returning to Hogwarts. I just want you to know that NO I am not running, I couldn't do that to you guys, but I am searching, I need to find a way to beat Voldemort. And seeing as Dumbledore won't show me the way without a pile of ridiculous games, I'll find it myself. Which brings me to my second request._

 _I need to move fast and light if I'm to avoid Dumbledore and Voldemort both. So I need you to take care of Hedwig for me. Honestly who else could I possibly trust with something as important to me as her?_

 _Honestly, I know you're probably not happy with me right now, I can't blame you. Well I guess I'll just have to see what you have to say._

 _Fondest Wishes. Harry._

 _P.S It occurs to me I might as well include some last words to you in case you know? So here it goes. You don't give yourself enough credit, Hermione, don't listen to Ron when he has a go at you. Honestly what does the burke know about women? He's even worse than me! Hermione, there's someone out there worthy of you I'm certain, although I admit I have yet to meet him, and I hope you find him. My final piece of advice: enjoy yourself a little, you spend too much time being serious and working your life away. I know your future career is important but what will it matter if you're utterly miserable?_

Hermione felt like the wind had been knocked out of her. Harry had asked her for her help, but had basically informed her that this might be goodbye. He had lost too much she realized, too much to allow himself to just trust in Dumbledore's plan. And so he was removing himself from it, and by extension from her.

She felt the beginnings of tears prickle in her eyes and wiped at them irritably. Harry had been an essential part of her life for so many years, to lose him now was intolerable.

And yet at the same time she felt a small measure of pleasure at the thought that of all the people he could have contacted, he had written to her. Despite feeling the need to ask if he could trust her, he clearly already felt that he could, despite everything.

It was shocking really, that Harry would feel so…forsaken that he would abandon the closest thing to a home he had ever had. It spoke to the level of suffering he had endured. A boy who had fought a troll, a possessed professor, a basilisk, dementors, an accused murderer, a traitor, had won a tournament which was just inches from being a blood sport, before fighting the most evil Dark Wizard on the planet, before being turned on by his ministry and to some degree his friends had finally hit his limit. This was the end. Harry had finally realized that the adults apparently had no more idea of what was going on than the children. They just hid it better.

There was a loudly cleared throat and she gave a start spinning towards the door. Her mother, Emma Granger stood in the doorway looking at her with concern. "Hey hun, are you okay? Your eyes are looking red, have you been crying?" she asked gently.

Hermione, wiped at the moisture absently and shook her head, not so much in disagreement of anything her mother had said, than from ruefulness. She picked up the letter and folded it as casually as she could manage. "Yeah—mum, I'm fine. Just got some bad news from a friend."

Her mother peered at her. "Oh dear. Anything I need to know?"

Hermione considered that and just shrugged. "No, not really. My friend might need my help for a while though." Something about that appeared to catch her mother's attention.

She pointed to her and her voice was a touch harsher, "This wouldn't happen to be the same friend who got you into whatever gave you that scar?" She asked. She'd noticed the scar pretty early on in Hermione's stay. It was just not feasible to try and hide it.

Still Hermione didn't appreciate the accusatory tone of the question. "It's not Harry's fault I got the scar mum," she replied a touch sharply.

"Oh, then who's is it?" Emma asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

Hermione growled a bit. "I chose to follow mum, he didn't force me to, in fact he asked me not to come along. I got this when I wasn't paying as much attention when the…when it started."

Apparently her answer was less than satisfactory. "You tell us less and less each year about your schooling, and each year you come back with more scrapes and scars. Your father and I are becoming concerned."

Hermione couldn't help but bark a laugh at that, it sounded bitter even to her ears. "It's far too late to back out now mum. There's no going back."

Emma didn't like the sound of that. "How so?"

"Well for one thing, because the Wizarding world is run by a pack of bigoted anthropocentric misogynists, who would, just because I'm a female muggleborn, wipe my mind blanker than a slate if I tried to leave. Second, because I'm Harry's friend, his enemies would happily hunt me down and kill me. Third because I'm a muggleborn, those same enemies would kill me whether I was his friend or not. That's if I'm lucky."

"I don't understand." Her mother murmured. "I really don't, I don't see how I can when you refuse to explain it to me."

"It's better you don't understand, being a muggle with too much knowledge rattling around in your head would paint an even larger target on you," Hermione admitted tiredly.

"You can't tell us anything? Anything at all to help us accept this?" Emma pleaded.

Hermione sighed, more from exhaustion than from exasperation. She considered what she might be able to explain, "The short answer, Mum, is that we are at war. A Dark Lord has declared war on Wizarding Britain; his whole platform is purifying the Wizarding race of muggleborns and one day ruling over the muggles like some sort of twisted emperor. Harry has the misfortune of being stuck in the middle of this all no matter what he does. And before you ask, yes, I'm going to support him regardless."

Her mother stared at her shrewdly, clearly mulling over what she had said. "Fine, maybe you can explain that a little more over breakfast. It'll be ready in a few minutes." She sighed, shaking her head. "Honest to God, Hermione, I don't know where to even begin with all that." She turned and exited closing the door behind her.

Hermione just stared at the door for a time before sighing and pulling a pad of paper across the desk to write a letter back to Harry. Her reply was admittedly a bit sharp in it's tone, but she could mostly put that down to her conversation with her mother. She got up and tied the letter to Hedwig's leg and let the bird out the window, before closing it behind the snowy owl. She honestly had no clue how the neighbours never noticed an owl entering their house on occasion.

She padded back to the middle of the room and glanced at herself in the mirror. She shook her head, she'd dawdled enough, she needed that shower. She reached up and undid her bra throwing it carelessly on her bed, before bending down and pushing down her knickers. She then padded into the en suite bathroom and closed the door. She had a hell of a day to get prepared for if she were any judge.

* * *

A few minutes later and many miles away, Harry, the cause of much of Hermione's stress in one form or another, hurried out of Gringotts onto the still mostly empty cobbled street of Diagon Alley. He had gotten everything he needed from the bank. Not that it was easy. After a bit of a runaround for not having his key on him, which included several identity confirmation tests, the Goblins had provided him with a Credit and Debit card arrangement, but had spent most of the time implying that he was the lowest form of life form for requesting it - it wasn't that hard when they were so well built for sneering. Still business was business so he got what he needed out of them eventually. He had also managed to procure a list of his family's assets which he could peruse at his leisure at a later time. For now, he had other matters to attend to. He was fortunate that he'd already eaten so he could at least shave off a little time out in the open that way. But he still needed some supplies, mostly in the form of useful books.

It did strike him as novel when he entered Flourish and Blott's, Hermione's favourite store, that he was for the first time getting books that were not mandated by his coursework and exams, but were for his own edification.

He had spent most of the trip to Diagon and during his time waiting on the Goblins to cooperate, planning out what he most needed to study. First thing he had come up with was that, despite his efforts with the DA, and despite the books Sirius and Remus had sent him, his education in Defence Against the Dark Arts had suffered under that toady bint, Dolores Umbridge. He therefore made a point to pick out a couple books on that topic which might be useful, including some supplemental works on magical dueling. The second and more important topic he thought of was Occlumency.

His own education in that area had been sadly lacking thanks to Snape's rampage and pillage approach to "teaching". It had left him wide open both to Voldemort's false vision, and the attempted possession at the Ministry. There was no way in hell he was letting that happen again.

Despite this resolution on his part Harry couldn't help but wonder if Occlumency even applied against Voldemort, who didn't seem to be accessing his mind from without in the way of regular Legilimency, but from within somehow. Harry had figured out some time ago that he and Voldemort were linked in some way. But the nature of the connection was nebulous and nobody had bothered to explain it to him. What a shock.

He couldn't dwell on his doubts now though, couldn't afford to let them hobble him. Occlumency was the only method he was currently aware of that might help protect him from such an attack in the future, so that's what he would focus on.

Harry managed to find a few works on the subject at the back of the store and was soon back outside, his new purchases in a shrunken bag in his pocket. He truly had intended that to be it for that day, and had begun making his way to the Leaky Cauldron when a familiar shop caught his attention out of the corner of his eye.

Ollivander's. The wand maker's shop, and by reputation, the best wand maker in Britain. Although to be fair, Harry hadn't heard of any other British wandmakers so that reputation might have been a bit meaningless. During his battle at the Department of Mysteries, he and his allies had been disarmed or otherwise forced into an impasse several times. Neville had been unarmed for a time when his own wand was destroyed. He himself wondered about the true usefulness of his own wand that locked up whenever it encountered Voldemort's. He reflected on the nature of Ollivander himself. An eccentric type, but not dangerous by any stretch, he briefly wondered if the man would contact Dumbledore about him if he ventured in there. Nothing to that point had really convinced him of such a thing. So perhaps it would be worth the risk?

He wandered over to the shop's dim and somewhat grimy door and pushed it open, wincing slightly at the tinkling of the bell.

Garrick Ollivander, a stooped elderly man of indeterminate age was currently standing at the counter fiddling with a bit of wood. A bit of wood which snapped audibly, causing the man to mutter a couple curses before setting the pieces down on the counter and looking up. He apparently took a moment to focus his eyes on the young man approaching, but once he did his eyes lit up. "Ah, Mr Potter! Eleven inch holly wand with a phoenix feather core. Still serving you well I presume?"

This was the man's typical greeting, so Harry took it in stride. "Of course" he agreed easily stepping a little further into the room.

"Excellent, now then what can I do for you today?" The elderly gentleman asked brightly.

Harry wondered how to approach the topic, Ollivander was touchy about his wands. "I assume you heard about the fight at the Ministry?"

Ollivander nodded. "Ah yes, indeed I have. Terrible, just terrible that. I was sorry to hear about Mr. Black. I understand you were close?" Harry wondered at who had been telling tales, but he just nodded. No point denying it now.

"Thank you. In regards to that, I found that people getting disarmed was a rather large problem for our side during the fighting. I was wondering if you could help me find a backup wand, just in case I should ever lose mine." He asked glancing about.

The man just smiled a bit, "Well of course I can. Now then, would you prefer to do another off the shelf search, or now that you know how your magic works a bit better perhaps you like a custom build?"

Harry just blinked confusedly at him for a moment. "You do custom wands?"

Ollivander feigned offence, reminding Harry briefly of Professor McGonagall when one arrived late to class. "Of course Mister Potter, I am a wand maker after all. And while there is always a good chance that you'll find the right wand for yourself among the stacks, a custom wand is generally a choice I prefer to reserve for those who have matured somewhat. Can't have children trying to make a _cool_ wand which doesn't end up doing them any good now can I? No, better that they find one that's already made and works." He explained seriously. He paused for a second and grinned. "Though I must say your current wand is a fantastic match. I would be hard pressed to make a custom wand suit you any better than that."

Harry had to admit the thought was intriguing. "How much will it cost?"

The wand maker shrugged. "Low end? Two galleons above that of an off the shelf job. A little more expensive for higher end materials, not more than two dozen or so galleons more for a ridiculously luxurious piece."

Harry nodded. "Sounds fair. You take cards?" he asked pulling out his new acquisition from Gringotts. The old man nodded agreeably. "Okay then, how do we do this?"

Ollivander rubbed his palms together clearly anticipatory. "First things first we need to know your needs for the wand. Since we were talking about it already I assume you want a fighting wand?" Harry nodded in response.

"Good, then we'll start you with woods that are durable or very flexible. Can't have a combat wand breaking in a fight now can we?" He asked rhetorically bustling off for a box which he hauled up onto the counter.

The box was filled with dowels of wood, each with a tag indicating what kind of tree it had come from. "Good, now we'll start you off with this lot and go from there. Grab a dowel, doesn't matter which one to start with, and then focus on your magic. Just like you would for a basic spell like lumos. These are from wand trees so they'll work where a normal stick wouldn't."

Harry did as instructed and just about dropped the dowel when it cracked right down the middle. He set it down on the counter delicately. Ollivander sucked at his teeth as he considered. "Hmm, too much juice for this lot then," He picked a selection out of the pile and put them off to the side. "The core will take the brunt of the magic of course, but the wood around it has to deal with the overflow, if just a little magic like that splits it, you need something more durable than these ones." he explained.

Over the next few minutes Harry tried more dowels, and broke most of them. Until only a final selection of three remained. African Blackwood, Black Ironwood, or Jarrah Wood. Ollivander stopped him here. "Now I want you to push as much magic into these three as you can at once and we'll see what happens."

Harry did as instructed, albeit a touch hesitantly at first, until Ollivander murmured encouragement. The Blackwood managed ten seconds of extended input before it shattered in his hands. The Black Ironwood managed a similar period of time before it ignited into flames. While The Jarrah wood had the oddest reaction yet of suddenly turning flaccid and floppy, prompting Harry to drop it in horror.

Ollivander appeared confused by these reactions more than anything. "Huh, well the African Blackwood is probably the best fit, better a shatter, than bursting into flame or doing whatever the Jarrah Wood did. It's…strange, I've never seen those woods burn out so fast before." He shrugged. "African Blackwood it is then. Now then how about metals for a fighting grip?" He asked before wandering off in search of just such materials. When he returned he paused a moment, "Right, how much are you willing to spend on this. We can stick with the two galleon extras or we can go into the high end stuff for a bit more?"

Harry shrugged. "As much as needed, I need to be able to rely on it." This answer seemed to brighten the man's mood considerably.

The man placed a number of small ingots on the counter before looking at Harry again. "Now then, would you be willing to spare a drop of blood on each ingot. No more than what Gringotts requires for the identification tests."

Harry had no problem with such a small thing so, after a numbing spell and a prick or two from an instrument provided by Ollivander he dripped a bit of blood onto the ingots. Ollivander then proceeded to have him push a bit of magic into the ingot via the blood and observed the results.

Sometimes the blood boiled, filling the air with a metallic tang, sometimes it merely changed colours, and with others the blood droplets began fizzling or hopping in place on the metal in question.

Ollivander carefully cleaned everything off and put forward two finalists. "These two are Silver and Molybdenum, please focus as much magic into each ingot as you can."

The silver responded to this by beginning a low resonant hum while the Moly-be-damned as miners called it began an obnoxious buzzing. "Right silver it is then." the old shop keeper said nodding in satisfaction.

He brought out a box of cores a few minutes later. Harry stopped him for a question. "Shouldn't a Phoenix Feather be best?" He asked curiously, his current had worked so well thus far for him.

Ollivander shrugged. "Not necessarily. You see, the cores are imbued with a bit of the…personality of the creature which produced it. You can never tell how a particular core is going to take to a person. What I've got here today are samples of Dragon heartstring, Unicorn Hair or Horn, Phoenix Feather, Merperson Hair and Thestral Hair." He explained holding up some of the samples. "Now, I have a feeling about which one of these will be most suited to you, would you indulge me for a moment?" He requested.

Harry agreed and was presented with what looked like a small bundle of muscle tissue, which began to writhe on the palm of his hand. He looked to Ollivander but found a satisfied look on the man's face. "Yes that's about perfect I think. In case you are curious, this heart string was extracted during the medical treatment of that Horntail you flew circles around a couple years back. You see, while the other core materials generally find their best matches at the creatures whim or that of the material. The best matches achieved with Dragon Heartstrings are those between a witch or wizard and a Dragon they have conquered. A fascinating area of study into a subject we don't truly understand. But it appears that in some way the recognition of dominance is critical in this manner of exchange," he explained and Harry handed him back the muscle fibres. "Now then, would you like to wait around a while while I work on your wand or would you like it mailed to you?"

Considering his current situation Harry's decision was simple. "I'll wait around, how long will it take?" He asked.

Ollivander thought about that. "Probably an hour or so." Harry nodded agreement. "Excellent, oh and it looks like you may have just the thing to keep you occupied, an owl appears to be looking for you." He noted nodding to the window. Hedwig was waiting patiently on the sill.

"How'd you know she's with me?" Harry asked surprised.

Ollivander just chuckled. "All my mail comes into the rookery upstairs, therefore that owl is here for someone else." Harry chuckled ruefully in understanding. "Now hurry along young Mister Potter, I have work to do."

* * *

Harry stepped out into the morning sun and collected Hedwig from her perch before sitting them down on a bench in a relatively secluded section of the alley. It was starting to fill up with shoppers, and this extended stay of his would likely garner too much attention if he was out in the open.

He was more than a little relieved to see the letter attached to the owl's leg. "Hey there girl, so I guess she decided to keep it to herself after all eh?" He murmured to the owl. Hedwig barked quietly and started preening Harry's hair gently.

He opened the envelope and unfolded the letter.

 _Harry:_

 _Of course you can trust me! It's a bit insulting that you even have to ask. But you better believe we are going to talk about this. I hope you know what you are doing. Now then to business, you mentioned you might need my help. What can I do for you?_

 _-Hermione_

Harry winced a little, obviously she wasn't happy with him. He could practically taste the sarcasm on that last sentence. He glanced at Hedwig who was watching him expectantly. "Well what do you think, should I give her time to cool off or should I ask her to meet today?" He wondered. The owl tilted her head sharply, shooting him a look that clearly said, _What? Are you defective_ _?_ and he chuckled. "Today it is then."

He pulled out a pen and some paper and started writing using the back of one of his books. He'd have to make it good whatever he was going to say to her today.

—-

Hermione, who had been studying, sitting indian style on the warm comforter of her bed, was startled for the second time that day by the sound of rapping at the window. Sure enough it was Harry's ever faithful owl once again waiting patiently when she got up to see what it was. It was not lost on her however that the speed of Harry's response suggested he was not so terribly far away. Probably somewhere in the Greater London Area at least. Which...really wasn't that small a space when she thought about it.

She allowed the bird into her room and untied the letter from her leg and passing her a bit of bacon she had saved from breakfast.

Breakfast, what a…pleasant conversation that had been. Her parents had been understandably equal parts, angry, disgusted, confused and terrified by some of the things she had said and hinted at. It was only her warning about what would happen to them all if she was pulled from Hogwarts that kept her parents from doing so right there and then. Which was precisely why she had not told them up to this point.

She unfolded the letter and read the short reply.

 _Hermione_

 _Meet me at the Tower of London by the Ravens at noon and I'll gladly answer whatever questions you have._

 _-Harry_

The cloak and dagger tone of the note was not comforting, but his willingness to accept her assurances that she was trustworthy was. She didn't like this strange game her friend had started to play, but she didn't see any choice but to play along for the time being. His reply hadn't been open to a lot of different interpretations. However, he was at least offering answers, which was something he was not always good about.

She nodded to Hedwig. "You want to stay here, or fly around a bit while I'm out meeting Harry?" The owl looked to the window before bobbing her head.

"Out flying it is. Try not to wander too far," Hermione opened the window and allowed the bird out before padding with her books to the shelf and replacing them. She then grabbed her purse and slung it over her shoulder before making her way down stairs. Again pausing as she pulled on her shoes to explain to her parents. "I'm going out for a bit, I'll see you later."

Her mother was apparently observant or shrewd enough to guess her purpose from her attitude. "Going out to help your friend?"

Hermione tried to gauge her mother's mood but she came up empty. "Just to talk actually, but yes."

Her parents frowned at each other. "Perhaps we should come with you, just in case?" Her father suggested.

She shook her head. "No, Harry wants this private so it's better if it's just me, and besides…" She stood up from tying her shoe. "Even if there were trouble, what would you be able to do about it?" Her parents were clearly not pleased with this logic, but neither were they able to refute it. What was Dan Granger, a dentist going to do against wizards who could shoot lightning from a stick? "Now, I'll see you later, hopefully in time for dinner, but if not, don't wait up."

With that she exited her house and made her way out onto the sidewalk. She knew she wasn't precisely being fair to her parents. She knew they meant well, that they cared for her. But really, right this moment she didn't have either the time nor patience to argue with them about it all.

It was a relatively short walk to the nearest tube station. She could be thankful for one thing at least. In the middle of the day like this, the London Tube system was safe, fast and reliable, she could be to the tower in time to meet Harry without any concerns. Well… no more concerns than she already had.

* * *

Harry stood, leaning lightly against a tree in the central courtyard space of the Tower of London fortress, doing his damnedest to remain utterly unremarkable to any who might pass. Thankfully this was a relatively easy task in a crowded London tourist destination. To many who ventured here he'd just be another dishevelled teenager loitering in an open space.

His attempts to remain unnoticed must have been fairly successful, because not even Hermione saw him when she eventually showed up. She looked good, hard not to when not wearing Hogwarts robes for a change he supposed, but she looked healthier, if not necessarily happier than the last time he'd seen her. Of course, the last time he'd seen her, she hadn't been long out of the infirmary after receiving that curse, so his judgment was far from impartial.

She paused, casting her eyes about before visibly sighing and setting herself down on one of the benches beside the Raven's field. _Holy mother those are some big birds,_ he thought to himself as he approached her bench cautiously. He leaned casually on the back of the seat next to her, and she gave a start. "Thanks for showing up Hermione. I know it was sort of last minute," he greeted, smiling briefly at her before turning his attention back to the birds. A beef eater was running about trying to coral one back to his pen without much success.

He heard her blow out an explosive breath. "Honestly, Harry, it's not like you gave me much choice. If I wanted to speak with you it had to be here today remember?" She asked exasperatedly.

"Would you really have put me off if I had given you more time?" He asked, feigning curiosity, he knew perfectly well what the answer was.

Clearly she did too. "No, I wouldn't have and you know it."

"Then it's just like I thought, and there was no point to beating around the bush was there?" he pointed out calmly. "Now then, do you want to talk here, or do you feel like taking a stroll?"

She considered that pursing her lips. "You sure that's wise? I didn't think you'd want to risk being overheard."

He shrugged casually. "In a place like this? I figure anything we say will either be ignored or written off as nonsensical babbling, the only people around here who'll hear us are muggles." He noted, and she nodded conceding his point. "Come on then, we'll visit the armoury up there in White Tower, I feel like looking at some swords today," he teased.

She smirked, "Don't you get enough suits of armour and all that at Hogwarts?"

He smiled roguishly at her as he helped her to her feet. "Yeah, but you've seen those things, they're mostly early renaissance era crap. I hear they've got a suit of Samurai armour here." He pointed out.

She rolled her eyes, but it was mostly in good temper. "Fine, lead the way."

They walked in silence for a goodly time, just admiring the scenery or looking at the displays within the museum. Eventually they paused in front of a series of armoured suits and Harry felt compelled to comment. "Seems Henry the Eighth got to be shaped like my relatives by the end of it eh?" He noted, nodding to a practically spherical suit at the end.

Hermione just shook her head and sighed. "You really want to spend our time together talking about that?"

He shrugged, and grimaced slightly. "Not really, no. But I figured I had to start somewhere."

She stared hard at him for a moment. "Harry, why are you doing this?" She asked tightly, "Why are you leaving—" She had to clear her throat as it tightened, choking off what she'd been about to say. Why are you leaving me?

Harry sighed, but he apparently had missed the internal dialogue. "Dumbledore's made too many mistakes concerning me. And I've made the mistake of allowing it to continue unchallenged. Here, I wrote a short list while I waited on you." He said and pulled a sheaf of paper from his bag and handed it to her.

Short may not have been the word for it. Hermione reflected as she examined what was a thoughtful and comprehensive list of Dumbledore's known failings up to this point regarding not just Harry, but the school as a whole. The list went on for several pages, he'd even attached notes with questions and hypotheses to some of them. It was surprisingly well-written for Harry, especially given that Hermione usually had to proof-read his assignments. And Hermione being who she was read the whole of it.

She came to the end close to five minutes later, and handed it back before sighing wearily and rubbing her forehead irritably. "It's kind of hard to argue against you running when when you lay it all out like that isn't it," she asked as they paused in a small alcove by one of the windows.

He glowered slightly, "Like I said, it's not running, not really. I'm searching, I'm just going to be doing it without Dumbledore. I wouldn't have to leave if I didn't know he'd interfere. Force me back into my cage." He looked at his feet and growled a little. "That and I have a feeling running would be not only cowardly but futile as well in the long run."

That caught her attention and she looked up at him again. "How so?"

He paused considering her, his eyes darting around her face as if memorizing it. She didn't know it but in a way he was. He might not see her again, possibly ever again if he followed through on his plan. Eventually he blew out a breath and looked at the low ceiling above them. "I heard the prophecy Hermione,"

She blinked in confusion. "What, how? I thought it was destroyed?"

"Sure it was, but Dumbledore knew what was in it all along and told me himself for a change." He noted sourly.

She peered closely at his clearly strained features. "What did it say?"

"Long or short version?" He asked, looking out the window.

"There's more than one?" She asked confused.

Harry shook his head. "No, I meant, do you want me to summarize or do you want the full thing right this minute?"

She decided getting to the point was important. "Summarize for me, we can go into the details later."

He smiled sadly at her. "Basically? It say that it has to be me who kills Voldemort. No one else can do it for me. It's either him or me, kill or be killed." He noted her stunned expression. "And, as if that wasn't bad enough…It's possible, judging by the wording that it might mean that I must die before someone else can finish the job after I'm gone."

She felt nothing but horror at this revelation, but Harry just smiled a gentle if sad smile at her. Eventually she did what her mind had been screaming at her to do for the last few minutes and lunged forward hugging him tightly. _There is no bloody way that wanker is taking my Harry from me!_ She snarled to herself, _I won't allow it, it's unacceptable, that will not be his fate!_

She looked up at him seriously, before once again resting her head on his shoulder. "I don't care what any prophecy says Harry, you are not dying on me you understand," She demanded.

He chuckled and rubbed her back, in a slow circular motion which was fairly soothing "Yeah I'm not too fond of that interpretation either. But it's pretty clear that I will have to face him myself, but I also know that following Dumbledore will in all likelihood see me dead and buried before I get very far."

She backed off him a bit, "Harry you can't seriously be intending to take on V-Voldemort alone?" She cursed the slight stutter at saying his name.

Harry just shrugged again, "I don't see an alternative really. I can't really trust Dumbledore, the Order all follow his lead, and anyone in the same postal code as me is likely to get killed off."

She shook her head in denial. "Harry, you can't possibly learn everything you need to know to beat him on your own!"

"I can get books, and despite what the people around here would have you believe, there really are other magical folks outside Britain." He smirked a bit," "I'm betting there's someone out there who can help me learn what I need for this."

 _I can't let him do this alone, that's suicide, no matter how he pretends it isn't! He doesn't know who he can trust out there, not really. Anyone could be an agent for Voldemort. No, I won't let him go alone._ She glared up at him and before leaning forward and shoving him. He took a step back looking surprised. "You don't have to go looking out there by yourself. Don't believe for a second that I'm letting you face this alone, Harry! I'm coming with you."

He shook his head, and frowned. "Hermione, that's not what I meant, I can't possibly ask you to—"

She cut him off sharply. "You're not asking. I'm volunteering," she explained carefully, as if talking to a slow child, determination ringing in her voice.

Harry was unhappy, "Yeah, to give up everything, to go on the run with some schlub who's pissed off one too many people?"

She didn't back down. "To go on the run with my best friend, who needs me," she challenged.

He was still shaking his head. "Hermione, you'd be giving up your home, your education, possibly even your future. It wouldn't be right…"

She scoffed. "And if I stay behind I may be giving up all those things and more anyways! Do you think Voldemort and his Death Eaters will be merciful if they capture me alive?"

Harry considered her as they started walking again. He was trying hard not to think about what would happen to Hermione if she were ever captured alive. "Have you sent a letter to Ron?" She asked eventually.

Harry shook his head, as they came to a stop in front of a case with some particularly exotic looking equipment in it. "No, we both know Ron can't keep a secret, and even if he could he'd grow to resent having to give up his comforts. It could be years, maybe even longer before I'm ready to face Voldemort." He gave her a significant look.

She wished she could argue with him. "You're not wrong. But don't you think he'll resent being left behind?"

He chuckled darkly. "He's going to be resentful either way. Better resentful somewhere where he won't cause trouble. That's another reason I can't and won't ask you to come with me, Hermione."

She furrowed her brow in confusion, "You think Ron will need me?"

Harry just barked a laugh at that, "No, Ron will manage either way I'm sure. He always does. Hermione, you have a future, an amazing one is ahead of you I'm sure. I can see it, and so can anyone else who's got half a brain." He shook his head. "I can stand Ron resenting me for leaving him behind. What I couldn't stand would be you resenting me for destroying everything you worked so hard for."

She pulled him aside and looked into his eyes, willing him to understand. "Harry, do you remember what I said were the most important things in life before you stepped through those flames in first year?"

He growled, a touch exasperated. He knew where she was going with this. "Bravery and Friendship."

 _I never did say everything I meant to say that night. I was right not to, at eleven I had no idea of the real meaning in what I was saying, not really. Now I do, and I'd say it all but we don't get do overs._ "How brave would I be if I let you go off alone? How brave would I be if I hid and let you suffer for my future? What kind of friend would I be if I didn't come with you when you will need me most?"

Harry hugged his arms around his chest uncertainly, "A living one?"

She looked around sharply and got in his face. "Oh shut it, Harry. You say you couldn't stand to have me resent you? Well I couldn't stand to have you die when I could have helped. I couldn't stand for you to be lonely when I could have kept you company." She wasn't going to let him go without one hell of a fight. "I'm your friend Harry, I want—" She shook her head. _No use dwelling on wishes and wants. They'll only break your heart._ She chose a different tact. "I need to be there with you seeing this through. Because if I didn't I wouldn't be able to live with myself," she snapped.

Harry sighed and rubbed his nose, then surprisingly he chuckled. "You know I had this grand plan about repairing the mirror from Sirius and giving it to you so we could talk."

She shook her head, looking at her feet. "It wouldn't be enough, I'd still miss you."

Harry was silent for a time. "Yeah, it wouldn't ever be enough." he agreed. "You know, before I decided to leave the Dursleys, I was thinking to myself, that of all the people I'd be leaving behind…I'd miss you the most."

She couldn't help but blink at him dumbly in surprise. He saw her confusion and explained. "Hermione, you're my conscience, my best friend and my confidant. No one else even comes close."

She couldn't believe he was telling her this. "Not—not even Ron?" She asked.

He chuckled a bit hiding a smile behind a fist for a moment. "Please, have you ever tried to have a meaningful conversation with Ron? I mean, he either insults you, gets irrationally jealous or goes 'bloody hell' all the while clearly not really understanding what it all really means to you."

She smirked a bit, "I believe I may have noticed that over the years, yes. I believe I said he had the emotional range of a teaspoon."

"Yeah, he's an okay bloke most of the time, but that's only because we never really asked much of him before the Department of Mysteries. And it's not like he could have backed out of that, not with you and the others coming to my rescue… No, like I said, I'd miss you most." Then he smirked a bit, "And while I knew I would and could never ask, I did wish I could bring you with me," he admitted.

She smiled at him, the first real smile in a while. "Well I guess wishes do come true after all," she noted smiling saucily at him. He was crumbling and she knew it.

He barked a laugh. "Ha! Yeah I suppose they do…" he sobered. "Hermione, in all seriousness, think on this, really think on it, before you commit, because once in it... I don't know that there's going to be a chance to back out."

She glared at him, but it lacked any real heat. "You know, Harry, sometimes I really want to smack some sense into you! I will not back out on you. So long as you need me, I'll be there."

He smiled, and looked away for a moment. "Hopefully not just then…" He looked back at her and she could swear she saw a bit of moisture in his eyes. "I want you around Hermione, I don't—I don't know what I'd do without you to..." He trailed off.

She smiled impishly at him, reaching out and rubbing his shoulder. "Die probably."

He laughed again. "I really should make a list of the sheer number of time I owe you my life. I bet it'd go on forever." He teased.

She made to wave that off. "You don't owe me anything Harry…"

He gave her a stern look. "That's a load of bull and you know it. But hey, if you want to turn down the opportunity to cash in on all the kinds of favours saving my life might net you…" He teased theatrically.

She laughed and looked away to cover the blush her overactive imagination had created from that statement. Some of those favours could be very nice indeed. "I might take you up on that some day then…just imagine. A whole bookstore's worth of reading material." She joked.

He laughed but was serious when he replied. "Hey, if that's what you want I'll get it for you." he said earnestly. She couldn't help but be touched by his sincerity. She tried to stamp down on the butterflies that were spawning in her stomach. She'd given up on that, sadly some things just would never be. She'd accepted it.

She cast about for a topic as they once again exited the tower into the courtyard. "So where are we headed next" Hermione asked seriously. He sobered a bit and shrugged.

"I think I need to figure out a way to get rid of the trace, but first we need to—" Harry blinked and a look of dawning horror spread across his face. "God, how are your parents going to react to this? We can't just show up and have you start packing your bags."

She nodded chewing her lip. "No, you're right, they—maybe I could…no." She shook her head in frustration.

"What were you thinking?" He asked curious.

She shrugged and smiled sheepishly. "I could obliviate them and send them somewhere safe."

Harry grimaced, he had never liked obliviations, "Hopefully it never comes to that. I think it'd be better to explain it to them. All of it, and—let you say your goodbyes."

She winced at that but nodded. "They're at home today," She ventured.

"How likely is your dad to try and kill me…" He asked then snorted. "Hell, it's the mothers of most species who are the most dangerous."

She snorted, she'd just imagined her mother in a bear suit. "Piece of advice before you meet them Harry, I'd advise never equating my mother with an animal to her face."

"Even I'm not that stupid."

She felt a familiar argument rise to the surface. "You're not stupid Harry, you just need to apply yourself…" she paused realizing how ridiculous this was considering. "Well, I guess that's what you're doing now isn't it? Just a bit more spectacularly than anticipated." She noticed Harry was looking chagrined, "What?"

"I just realized I have no idea where exactly you live," he admitted.

She shrugged not bothered. "A few blocks from Belsize Park Station."

"Ah,'' he said eloquently.

She considered him out of the corner of her eye. "How'd you get here?" She asked.

Harry considered making a, "well when a man and a woman really love each other," joke, but thought better of it. "Knight Bus to Diagon Alley, then walked here."

She blinked surprise. "You didn't take the tube? That must have taken an hour or more!"

He shrugged. "Never really been on the tube by myself before. Besides, I like walking just fine.

She shook her head, Harry was so odd sometimes. "Well, we're certainly not walking all the way to Belsize Park from here." She eyed the crummy clothes he was wearing and sighed. "And if we want this to go smoothly it would be best if we go shopping on the way."

Proving he indeed was no dummy Harry understood her meaning immediately. "You know it's a widely held belief among males that getting taken shopping by women is really an excuse for them to torture us. I managed to pick that up even with the Dursleys," he noted dryly.

She sniffed, feigning offence, "You just haven't been shopping with me when it didn't involve books," she said primly.

He grinned, "I know, and I'm not really arguing. Believe me, I know I look like a slob in Dudley's cast offs."

She smiled grimly, stifling dark thoughts in regards to his relatives. "Excellent, then let's get you sorted, and we'll face the parental horde together!"

He paused considering that. "Is it wrong that I'm less scared of a dragon than of your parents?"

"No," She said happily.

"Oh good."

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Major Thanks to both Bearmauls and Temporal Knight, who are pseudo-coauthors especially in regards to the first few chapters and who have been much appreciated Betas for this story. Seriously, you guys freakin' rock!

 **Recommendation(s) of the Week:** First up we have... Harry Crow by Robst. I'd be horrifically remiss if I never mentioned this Fan Fiction Classic. So...go on, read it you fools! And in a twist, I'm gonna recommend a cross-over I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For by Kathryn 518. Fairly solid HP/Star Wars crossover, though unfinished and slow updating. Hopefully that'll change soon.


	3. Chapter 3

Harry had not taken the London Tube much before today, and never on his own. It was difficult for one to not have at some point if they had ever even so much as visited the city, however the Dursleys had never allowed him to travel much. The tube was a massive and carefully planned out network of subways, and as he learned from Hermione, it had been in service in one form or another for close to a hundred years. It had even seen service in the second world war as a system of public bomb shelters. Hermione made a point of indicating points of interest as they passed, making this particular trip interesting compared to those previous.

Harry should have known some of this already considering his residence in a muggle home in the Greater London Area, but as ever his stay with the Dursleys had proven less than beneficial to any concept of education. He and Hermione even had the pleasure of the momentary entertainment caused by a tourist, Canadian judging by the little Canadian flags all over his stuff, get hamstrung by the automated doors of the train.

When they eventually arrived at the Belsize park station, and made their way to the surface, Harry was struck by the impression that this was exactly the sort of neighbourhood he could imagine Hermione growing up in. There was a pleasant little market district right out front the station. Hermione paused in front of a small used-book shop and asked the shopkeeper about a book she had apparently been waiting eagerly for. Clearly this was a store Hermione was well known in, given how pleasantly the shopkeeper greeted her. After paying for the new book, the pair moved past the market and into the neighbourhood proper. The area beyond the market was saturated with endless townhouses and flats, with the occasional small cul-de-sac with slightly larger homes mixed in. It was in one of these small enclaves that Hermione's home was located. It was a nice two story house of moderate size sitting between two others of similar design.

The small green space in the centre of the cul de sac was filled with trees, and Harry felt compelled to comment. "Somehow, this is exactly the kind of place I imagined you living in, I can just picture you sitting under one of those trees reading."

Hermione blushed, but still felt a surprised laugh bubble up. "I still do occasionally, when the weather is nice that is."

They made their way up to the house, Harry politely waiting for her to take the steps first. Hermione was about to reach for the door handle, the other hand fumbling in her pocket for a key when the door was opened by a woman who could only be her mother. She was very similar to Hermione in appearance, despite the obvious differences in age. Hermione had given a start as the handle was pulled from her hand. "Oh. Hi, Mum."

Harry tilted a nod at the woman and waved slightly. "Hello, Mrs Granger," he greeted and the woman's eyes centred on him.

"Ah, hello to you too. You must be Hermione's friend, Harry,"

Harry nodded agreeably, "Yes ma'am, we met briefly back in second year I think."

She nodded slowly, "Yes, but we didn't get a chance to talk much. Those men got into a fight and we went to the pub to…relax."

"Yeah, sorry about that, the Malfoys and Weasleys all but have a blood feud," He informed her a touch ruefully. To say the Malfoys and Weasleys loathed each other was a colossal understatement. She nodded vigorously, probably remembering the incident in vivid detail, then straightened a bit as she settled.

"Well, you'd better come in then." She invited and stepped out of the way.

Hermione's house was different from other homes he had frequented. If he had to pick a word to describe the small contemporary house it would be…comfortable. Not too much clutter but not hideously, and unnaturally organized like the Dursleys. He only had a short time to reflect on this notion before a man Harry assumed to be Hermione's father entered the hall.

The man's expression and demeanour was polite, but it had a slightly wary edge to it as well. Harry could tell he didn't entirely trust his daughter's acquaintance just yet. Regardless he approached and spoke as amiably as could reasonably be expected under the circumstances. "Hello, you must be Harry," The man greeted holding out a hand to shake.

Harry grasped it firmly and shook, nodding, "Yes, sir."

"Dan Granger,"

Harry inclined his head, "A pleasure, sir."

The man led the group back into the living room. "So what brings you to our house, Harry," he asked seriously.

Harry blew out a breath, and shrugged, "It's a long story, sir."

He noticed Dan grimace and realized this wasn't the appropriate answer given the circumstances. Dan was hoping for the full story for a change.

"But I am going to hear it, right?" Dan asked pointedly.

Hermione was appalled by her father's blunt approach, "Dad!"

Harry just raised a hand to stop her, "No, it's okay Hermione. I don't mind," He turned back to Dan and nodded, "Yes sir, you'll hear it."

Dan seemed to ease a little bit, "Good,"

Emma was shaking her head, she knew what kind of trouble her husband's tact had likely started with their daughter. Hermione had spoken glowingly of Harry in her letters, somehow Emma doubted she would take kindly to perceived attacks by her own father, "Hermione, why don't you show Harry around?" she requested, giving her spouse a look, "We'll start an early supper."

Hermione shot her mother a grateful look before taking Harry by the elbow, "Thanks, Mum," She called over her shoulder as she led him from the room. "Come on Harry, I'll show you my room."

Harry followed her up the stairs as he heard hushed voices start up behind him. Hermione opened the door into the room and stepped inside and out of the way so he could see. Harry was impressed, it was quite a nice room. Far nicer than any of those at the Dursleys' in his reckoning. It was open and airy, with a bed built into the wall at the base of a bay window overlooking the backyard. Hedwig was sitting on a perch Hermione apparently kept specifically for visiting owls. Admittedly, she was currently turning a rodent of some description inside out and disemboweling it on her perch, but still it somehow failed to detract from the overall atmosphere of the room.

This was most definitely a learned person's room, but it also had a distinct quality about it that screamed Hermione. Of course the room was well stocked with book shelves, filled to the brim with books, but surprisingly the room also had a large drafting table pushed into one corner and many pictures adorned the walls. He had to peer more closely to realize that all the pictures were hand drawn images, the one he was standing next to was a detailed picture of Hogwarts from down on the grounds by the Quidditch pitch. He considered that for a moment before looking at Hermione, "How come I never knew you drew?" He asked, it would have sounded accusatory except for the grin on his face.

She was clearly a bit embarrassed, and shrugged gesturing weakly around the room as she rubbed the back of her neck. "That'd be because I never draw at school?" She ventured.

He considered that, "I'd still have liked to know about your other talent, these are really good. Though I suppose it's hard to draw with quills?"

She shook her head, "Oh no, I do ink drawings too. It's messy though, so I avoid it mostly. It's just I have more important things to be doing at school."

Harry shook his head as he examined another image, "These are very good,"

She smiled, clearly pleased, "Thank you."

The next picture he spotted was clearly a self portrait, likely a duplicate of a photograph judging by the lighting and composition. He smiled gesturing to it, "This is a really good one, I like it."

She cocked her head squinting at that one, apparently a touch confused. "I'm not terribly proud of that one, it just doesn't feel right to me."

Harry considered it. "Oh I don't know, the smile is just about perfect," he shrugged. "Not as good as the real thing of course. But still, amazing what you can do with a piece of graphite isn't it? Maybe you'll do one for me to have some day?"

She looked down, apparently pleased.

He eyed her thoughtfully then shook his head, getting back to business. "So…how do you want to approach this, with your parents I mean?"

She huffed a sigh, and glanced about uncertainly, "I don't know, Harry,"

He nodded, understanding. This was hardly a typical situation. _Mum, Dad? I'm intentionally going on the run with a friend of mine, in the hopes of learning how to fight a super powerful and evil mad man. Ta!_ was hardly going to cut it. "Perhaps we should let them ask their questions first, then? Let them understand why it is the way it is first?"

She grimaced but nodded, "Sounds like as good a place as any, I suppose."

Harry noted her hesitant tone, and correctly guessed that she was worried about her parents' response to him. "You want to go down and talk with them now?" She appeared uncertain, and more than a bit afraid they'd blow up at him. "Perhaps it would be best if you were to tell them?"

"Yeah, that's probably for the best," she agreed, sighing.

"Do you want me to come along?" He asked uncertainly.

She shook her head, "No, it would be better for me to handle it…" She indicated the window. "Why don't you go out back and wait?" He gave her a doubtful look, it didn't feel right, leaving Hermione to face this with her parents alone.

"Okay," He turned towards the door then turned back to her, "You know, I never wanted to put you in this position…" he offered, remorse tinging his voice.

She nodded, "I know Harry, don't worry."

She pushed him out into the hall and led him down the stairs before indicating the direction he should head in.

Harry followed the hallway through the door out into the back yard. A small but pleasant affair with a pool and a set of lawn chairs. Harry made his way tentatively over to one of the chairs and sat down. For a time he sat in silence, but before long he was contemplating the days to come.

Ultimately the first step would be finding somewhere to sleep for the night. He was relatively certain the Grangers were not going to be particularly happy with him. But that was a minor concern for the time being. The next big step on the list was to see about eliminating the Trace.

As he recalled the one who had made notifications for underage magic use was a woman called Mafalda Hopkirk. But he honestly had no clue as to whether or not she actually had the authority to remove someone from the watch list. Oh Fudge would of course have the authority, but there was no way Harry would be approaching him especially after the last year. Fudge dealt in favours and influence, whatever price tag he'd put on removing the trace would be too much, and even then Harry wouldn't wish to bet on him not going back on the deal later.

He also vaguely recalled hearing something suggesting Fudge might not be in office for much longer. Who were the replacement candidates again? He'd need to ask Hermione…unless...

His mind stumbled upon someone else who might be able to help him, though he couldn't be certain that she would. Madam Bones was known for being just and fair, and was the current Director of the DMLE. That had possibilities, though he was uncertain how best to approach her.

Harry was interrupted from his line of thought by the back door to the house swinging open and Mr Granger stalking out, thankfully his hands were held in his pockets and he wasn't moving in such a way as to suggest he was preparing to fight. Still he did look plenty surly as he approach. Harry cautiously got to his feet.

Dan approached him and eyed him irritably before finally speaking, voice sharp, "My daughter tells me you tried to talk her out of this madness."

Harry nodded readily, "Yes sir, I did."

"But she didn't listen, not even to you…" Dan asked rhetorically, then shook his head, "You know it is beyond frustrating when a daughter listens more to her friends than to her own parents," he noted somewhat accusingly.

Harry was sympathetic, "I can imagine it would be, sir…"

Dan shot him an unfavourable look, "May I ask you a question of you then?"

Harry nodded, "Of course, sir."

"What are your intentions towards my daughter?"

Harry blinked in surprise, whatever questions he had been expecting that hadn't been one of them, "I admit I wasn't expecting that, sir…"

"Well?" Dan asked expectantly.

Harry shrugged, "She doesn't see me that way, sir."

Mr Granger looked less than wowed by this argument, "How do you see her, then?"

Harry wasn't used to discussing such matters, "Like I said sir, she doesn't see me that way so it would be irrelevant either way."

Dan stared at him balefully for a time before sighing and shaking his head, "I just wish we could have gotten more time with her before losing her."

Harry felt guilty, he didn't want to break up the Granger family, "If I have anything to say about it, you won't be losing her, sir."

Dan wasn't comforted, "Your mad war is going to see her disappearing for who knows how long. We may not see her for year, maybe even decades. By the time she returns she will be a grown woman. My little girl will be gone."

Harry couldn't have felt much worse if he tried, "I'm sorry sir…"

Dan waved that off, "Oh, stop it with the sir already. I feel like I'm back in the Infantry," he grumbled.

Harry eyed him speculatively, "I wasn't aware you'd served the Crown… ."

Dan nodded absently, "Yeah, from 95 to 05." He looked to the boy next to him, "So do you actually have a plan in all this?"

Harry nodded, "The beginnings of one at least." He looked out over the back yard contemplating where to start. "First step is find somewhere to stay for the night, of course. But the next step is definitely going to be getting the Trace removed so we can do magic without getting hauled before the courts."

Dan nodded speculatively, "That's the thing which prevents you from doing magic outside of school right?" Harry nodded an affirmative. Dan considered before sighing, "Well, I don't see what I could do to help with that part, but you two are welcome to stay the night, that'd at least give us time to say goodbye." He offered, daring Harry to disagree.

Harry nodded, accepting the implied warning, "Just a warning ahead of time sir, if the Order or Ministry comes here looking for us, we may need to bolt sooner than we'd like. I can't control that."

Dan nodded, rubbing his face tiredly, "I understand."

Harry considered for a moment as they stood in silence. "If I may s—Mr. Granger," He corrected himself, "Could I borrow your phone book?"

Dan gave him a funny look, "Don't have one, you looking to find someone?" Harry nodded. "Well then, we'll try the internet, follow me." The older man instructed and set off back into the house.

—-

Hermione found Harry a few minutes later, laboriously working, hunched over at the family computer in the study. She knocked on the door frame, causing him to look up. "Hey Harry, hope my Father didn't give you too much trouble. He promised not to be too hard on you…" She sounded exasperated.

Harry smiled wanly at her, "He was fine Hermione, don't worry."

She nodded then indicated the computer in front of him, "What are you doing?"

"Looking up Madam Bones' Residence."

She furrowed her brow. "Why?"

"Way I reckon it, if anyone can remove the trace for us…" he started.

"It'd be the head of the DMLE, good thinking Harry," she agreed sitting down next to him at the desk. "You having any luck?"

He nodded, tapping away at a search engine. "I think so, Bones is a more common name than you might think, but here in London, without a listed phone number by the way, there's an Amelia S Bones and a Susan A Bones, living in South Kensington. I'm a bit surprised, I didn't know if I could expect their residence to be listed all things considered." He noted.

Hermione nodded comprehension, "That sounds about right. Susan lives with her Aunt, right?"

"My thoughts exactly," Harry agreed closing out of the program and writing the address down for later.

"So when are we visiting her?"

Harry chuckled. " _I'm_ visiting her tonight, _you_ are staying here to spend some time with your parents," he directed pointedly.

She tried to protest, "Harry…"

He cut her off, "No, Hermione, your father was wishing he had more time with you. It could be years before you see them again. Hopefully not, but you should spend some time with them. Besides I shouldn't be gone too long if I take the Tube."

She huffed a sigh, "Fine, when are you leaving?"

"Staying for supper, then I'm going to scout it out."

She put a hand on his arm, "Be careful won't you?"

He smiled a bit, "You've got it."

There was another knock at the door. This time it was Emma who stood in the doorway. "Alright you two, time for supper, come along before it gets cold," she instructed then disappeared again.

Harry helped Hermione to her feet before following her mother down to the dining room. Harry was amused to note when he arrived that apparently concessions had been made for the unusual nature of Hermione's cat/kneazle mix. Crookshanks was looking exceedingly smug as he sat at his own place at the far end of the table.

Emma sat down after placing meals in front of everyone. She looked at Harry expectantly, "So, Harry, clearly Hermione hasn't been telling us everything that goes on at that school. Would you be willing to tell us some of it?"

"Mum, are you two planning on interrogating him every time you see him?" Hermione groaned in irritation.

"It's okay Hermione, it's not like they'll have opportunities to ask later," Harry pointed out. He looked to Emma, "You want the good moments, I assume?"

Emma just shrugged philosophically, "All of them really, but yes the good moments too."

Harry nodded, thinking of the stories they should want to hear the most. "Well, I suppose I better start by noting that, as I'm sure you're aware, Hermione is far sharper than most her age, always has been in my experience."

They nodded agreement. "Well I got my first inkling of that fact the moment she repaired my glasses using magic before any of the rest of us knew our first incantations."

Hermione looked confused. "When did I do that?"

"Occulus Repairo, back on the train when we first met?" He waited until she acknowledged that she remembered, before turning his attention back to her parents, "But what you may not know, is just how well she does at school." He took a bite of his meal, before continuing at the Granger's interested expressions. "Your daughter is always the top of our year group by an extensive margin. But on top of that she currently holds the highest grade point average in the entire school overall."

Hermione blushed, "Harry, you don't need to…"

Harry ignored her with a pointed look. "Now the way I hear it, only three people in Europe have come even close in the last hundred or so years."

Her parents turned with impressed expressions to her, "Honey, that's the sort of thing your parent want to hear." Her dad sighed wearily.

She shrugged weakly, smiling a tad sheepishly, "I didn't think it was that big a deal."

Emma asked the logical follow up, "Who are the three who came closest?"

Harry had to think back, "Dumbledore, the current headmaster. Tom Riddle, and Gellert Grindlewald," He listed off pensively.

Hermione winced, "Not a great track record there."

Harry just shrugged. "I don't know. Dumbledore means well, he's just too darn convinced he's right all the time."

Dan had noted his daughter's distressed reaction to those names. "And who are the other two?"

Hermione rolled her eyes, but not at them so much as in general exasperation. "Just the two evilest wizards to plague the wizarding world in centuries."

Harry nodded, "The way I understand it, the reason they were both so effective and dangerous was because they were both brilliant in their own twisted ways."

The group considered that for a time, eating in silence. "What else can you tell us about Hermione's time at Hogwarts?" Emma asked.

"She got sorted into Gryffindor, which you may or may not know is the home of the brave." Harry considered additional points of interest. "She stood by me through thick and thin really. She was also among the first to manage a corporeal Patronus,"

That obviously meant nothing in particular to her parents. "Which is?"

"A highly advanced and challenging piece of magic used to drive off soul sucking abominations called Dementors," Harry explained dryly.

Hermione gave him a dirty look. "You managed that a whole two years ahead of me Harry, it's not such a big deal that I managed it years later." She argued.

"Hermione the only reason I learned that spell early was because I needed to. Besides many adult wizards have trouble managing a Patronus, that you managed it at fifteen was plenty impressive."

Dan and Emma encouraged him to keep telling tales. "She got me through the Tri-Wizard Tournament of course…"

"I wouldn't go that far," Hermione offered demurely.

Harry just rolled his eyes good naturedly, "She got herself invited to the Yule Ball by Viktor Krum."

Emma looked interested at that, "Who is?"

Harry gave Hermione a put upon look, "Hermione, you seriously don't tell your parents anything, do you?" He turned back to Emma, while Hermione muttered something inarticulate. Harry explained patiently, "Hermione got invited to the ball commemorating the Triwizard Tournament by the Champion representing Durmstrang, who just so happens to be the wizarding world's version of David Beckham."

Emma looked apoplectic. "Ah! Hermione, you should have told us," she all but shrieked.

Harry just chuckled as he watched the byplay. "I'm telling you, you should have seen her. Unbelievable."

Hermione blushed crimson. "Harry," she hissed, embarrassed beyond measure.

He looked at her innocently. "What? You were. I didn't spare Fleur more than a glance the entire night."

"I take it that's saying something," Emma asked.

Harry nodded, "Fleur Delacour was the French Champion, she also happens to be a Veela, which means she's supernaturally beautiful up to the point when she gets angry." Emma looked impressed, so he continued. "Hermione was stunning, and don't let her tell you differently"

Hermione tried to protest weakly, "I hardly think a date to a ball counts as one of the most important moments…"

Harry gave her a look and gestured to her clearly pleased parents. "It would seem it would be by your parents' reckoning though."

Emma was nodding, "He's right, Hermione."

Harry shrugged as Hermione squirmed a bit, "Regardless, Hermione has been an amazing friend."

Here Hermione got a touch melancholy, "Except for last year…"

Harry looked at her seriously. "You made a mistake Hermione, everyone makes mistakes. I forgave you a long time ago," he tried to assure her.

She couldn't say that she was certain of that, had he really needed to ask whether or not he could trust her earlier?

"Besides, you more than made up for it," he continued. "Helped me keep out of trouble - a losing proposition I know. Helped keep me sane when Snape was meddling with my brain. Helped me fix up my hand after Umbridge. Helped out with the DA… Then to top it all off you followed my crazy arse into the Department of Mysteries."

She rolled her eyes. "What was I supposed to do, let you go in and get yourself killed?

Harry nodded slowly, "Yes, that would be the sane thing to do…"

"Never going to happen," she informed him sternly.

Emma had leaned back crossing her arms over her chest. "I take it that last one is where she got hurt?" She did her best to stifle a shiver at her recollection of the scar on Hermione's chest.

Harry looked down, "Yes, I'm afraid so."

The parents considered the young pair grimly, "So what happened, exactly,"

Harry sighed and rubbed his forehead, "I went to the Department of Mysteries in the Ministry, hoping to help a friend who I believed was in trouble," He explained, suddenly sounding exhausted, "It was a trap, my friend was never there in the first place. Who was there instead was Voldemort and his inner circle of murdering scumbags." He cast about for some way to describe it, "We had no choice, it was literally fight or die. So, we fought. Hermione performed spectacularly,"

"Until I got over-confident…" Hermione growled, frustrated with herself.

Harry shrugged, "It could have happened to anyone."

She shook her head, "I should have been more careful,"

Harry glowered, "So should I, but I wasn't and Dolohov caught you unaware," He argued and shook his head. "Regardless, it was a horrific mess. Sirius, my Godfather, was killed when he came with the Order to try and rescue my worthless hide from the trap I'd gotten myself into." Hermione tried to protest here, but he rode right over her. "About the only good thing to come out of that mess was that the ministry couldn't continue to deny Voldemort was back. He trashed half the main atrium in a duel with Dumbledore in front of dozens, if not hundreds, of witnesses. Including the Minister for Magic himself."

Harry put down his knife and fork finished with his meal. Dan was observing Harry closely, "Will you be getting my daughter into more fights like that?"

Hermione pushed to her feet. "Dad, seriously? We've been over this…" she snapped.

Harry put up placating hands, "Hopefully not, Mr. Granger."

"But you can't promise can you?" Dan asked sharply.

Harry was honest and shook his head, "No, not against people like these."

Emma looked close to tears. "God…" she whispered.

Harry couldn't look more downtrodden, "I am sorry, more than I can ever express, I am sorry that Hermione has suffered for being my friend. It almost cost you your daughter…"

Hermione pointed at him, "Shut up, Harry. Dad! That's enough, I chose- I choose- to follow Harry. He told me I didn't have to. Just like he's telling me now," she barked in a raised voice.

Emma sighed, and looked to Harry as her family glared at each other. "Harry? Perhaps we need to have another discussion with our daughter? If you would give us a little time," she requested softly.

Harry nodded a touch jerkily. Talking about losing Sirius and contemplating what happened to Hermione had taken its toll on him. "Of course, I have some business out there tonight, anyway."

She nodded gratefully to him, "Thank you."

Harry got up from the table and left the room, picking up his bag from by the front door, trying to ignore the raised voices behind him.

—-

It was close to sundown when Harry found himself sitting in the shadows across the street from an apartment complex in south Kensington. He had secured himself under his invisibility cloak and was now examining the building's security. He didn't anticipate having to break in, he would have simply walked up to the Auror at the front of the building a while ago if it hadn't been for the extra watching the building from a vantage across the street.

Emmeline Vance, the dark haired middle age woman who also just happened to be a member of the Order of the Phoenix. She was undoubtedly here on Dumbledore's orders, probably part of one of her regular patrols. The problem was he couldn't approach the Auror without her seeing and reporting his presence to Dumbledore.

His current dilemma was how to deal with her safely, none of the members of the Order were slouches...well, except Fletcher. His only advantage at this point would be his invisibility cloak. Not ideal but manageable. He had been waiting for the right time to make his move for a while, when the opportunity finally came just as the sun was dropping below the horizon.

She had changed her observation point from one side of the street to the other, placing herself along a hedgerow near the alley behind the apartment building. The Auror himself had moved to stand closer to the door, perhaps understanding he was more exposed out in the open.

Harry hurried as quickly as he could while remaining quiet. It was much slower than he would have preferred. He cautioned himself to be careful as he approached, he had noticed her shoulders tense when his shoes scuffed slightly. Emmeline pushed her coat aside casually as though to rest her hand on her hip, but it exposed her wand to his view. He slid closer carefully as her eyes darted back and forth across the street. His hand snapped out, seeker quick, snatching her wand from it's holster.

She felt the tugging and whirled trying to lash out with a fist but he dodged and pointed the wand at her. "Stupefy!" there was a flash of reddish light and she crumpled. He didn't hesitate, he knew he was short on time, and grabbed her under the armpits dragging her into the alley and behind a dumpster, before anyone could notice.

He waited to see if his little stunt had alerted the Auror. Eventually he got up when he was satisfied he hadn't, and pulled his cloak off, stuffing it back in the bag before venturing onto the sidewalk again.

The Auror stood a little straighter as he approached, his hand going to his other wrist. "Good evening. You have business here? You're not one of the tenants. Are you making a delivery?" the Auror asked, polite but insistent.

"Uh, no. Just hoping to talk with someone, would you mind if I called up to Madam Bones?" Harry asked. The Auror's attention sharpened on him.

"She's very busy, if you wish to meet with her it would be more appropriate for you to make an appointment at her office," the Auror noted grimacing somewhat. He probably wondered how some random teenager had managed to find Madam Bones' home address.

"Could you call up and ask if she'd be willing to speak with me? It's very important," Harry pleaded.

The Auror sighed irritably, who knew how many people tried to pass security without permission around here. "Fine, who shall I tell her is asking?"

"Harry Potter."

The man's eyes predictably zeroed on his face and then his forehead before widening. He nodded, Harry didn't know it yet but he had something of a reputation after his foray into the ministry. "I'll call and ask," he agreed, and dialled the intercom.

The intercom buzzed for a minute before there was a click and a familiar voice issued from it. "Yes?"

"This is Auror Daniels Director, Harry Potter has shown up and is asking to speak with you?" He ventured uncertainly.

There was a pregnant pause on the other end followed by a sigh, "Well, this'll be good. Bring him up please, Auror."

The Officer nodded and opened the door, "Follow me," He then proceeded to lead the way up the stairs to the top floor. When they finally arrived and knocked, the door opened promptly. It was Susan, Amelia's niece and ward.

She beamed at him, "Hey, Harry, wasn't expecting to see you here of all places," she greeted, hefting a bag on her shoulder.

He smiled ruefully, "Hi, Susan, your summer going well?"

She nodded, "Yeah…Sorry I can't talk right now, I'm just on my way out the door. I'm supposed to meet Hannah and her family in a few minutes at the market."

He bobbed his head agreeably, "Ah, tell her I said hello for me would you?"

"Sure," She looked over her shoulder and called, "Auntie? Harry's here, I'll see you later okay?"

Amelia herself arrived a couple moments later, a tall stern woman who nevertheless spared her ward a tender look. "Alright Susan, see you later, be careful though," she instructed.

Susan made one of those aggravated sighs teenagers are so good at, "Yes, Auntie."

Amelia ignored her niece's act calmly looking to the officer standing at Harry's shoulder as Susan moved out the door closing it behind her. "Auror Daniels, if you'll wait in here, Mr Potter and I will speak in the study."

"Yes, Director."

Amelia showed Harry through her large, spacious and surprisingly modern apartment. He was surprised to see the majority of the light fixtures were, in fact, electric. The apartment apparently took up the whole top floor of the building, though it was possible Harry could have been wrong and it took up more than that. It was a fairly open plan, with what Harry believed was a sort of square of large open rooms around a central courtyard. The study itself, located at the far end of the floor seemed to function as the hub or go between at that end of the house between the two sides. Where the rest had been modern and contemporary in design, the study was all old-world sophistication, dark woods and rich leathers, with a desk in front of a fireplace, and another door along one of the other walls.

"If you would sit, Mr. Potter?" Madam Bones requested, indicating the chair across the desk from herself.

He complied easily, and she considered him, "Hello again, Harry. It has been some time since we have spoken, hasn't it?"

He nodded. "Yes Ma'am, not since my trial."

She grimaced slightly, "Indeed, I apologize you were forced to sit through that farce, but the Minister had manipulated matters rather expertly up to that point," she commented, with a note of irritation, clearly she was not Fudge's biggest fan.

"It's alright, it all worked out in the end," Harry assured her.

"Yes, it did at that," she agreed, leaning back in her chair folding her hands on her lap. She watched him for close to a minute in silence before nodding, "Now then, may I ask what brings you to my home tonight?"

He spoke, a touch hesitantly at first then gaining in strength, "I have a couple of things I'd like to speak with you about if you don't mind. But I think I'll need to provide you with a bit of backstory so you understand where I'm coming from," he hedged. Amelia nodded understanding, it was often this way with witnesses or informants, they wanted to get the record as clear as possible so there was no mistake. He paused, considering where to begin.

"As you may have noticed, my life is a bit of a high end disaster."

"If half the stories I hear are even close to true, that is something of an understatement."

He snorted in dark amusement, "Yeah, no kidding right?" He blew out a breath, "I'm afraid a large portion of the chaos in my life can be attributed to….mismanagement. Both on my own part, as well as on the part of Dumbledore," Harry explained cautiously.

She raised an intrigued eyebrow, "Oh, how so?" She was curious to see where this was going. It was rare to receive complaints about Dumbledore from the students themselves. More often it was some disgruntled parent who spoke up and started raising hell.

Harry silently handed across the list he had made for Hermione. Amelia surreptitiously scanned the papers for tampering or other harmful magics before taking them from him." Harry accepted that without offence. She examined the papers closely at first then more generally, a glower growing on her face as she read further. "This is an accurate list and accounting of matters as you understand them?" her tone sharp.

Harry nodded solemnly, "Yes, Director."

She flipped through a couple of the pages, grimacing. "Half of these incidents have never even been reported to the DMLE as far as I know."

Harry shrugged, pursing his lips "I'm not surprised. Dumbledore has a rather lax stance on law and order. He seems to treat it as something that happens to other people."

She read a few points on the list, "Like this," she said slapping the page. "You say that Sirius Black never received a trial? As we know now, he has been exonerated, but if Dumbledore knew half the things he should have…Or this, do you know we've never heard the details surrounding Professor Quirrell's death?" Shaking her head, she pointed to another, "And why are you being housed with a family against your wishes?"

Harry shook his head. "They're my relatives, Dumbledore believes the Blood Wards will—" He stopped when he noticed her expression.

"Blood Wards?" Amelia's eyes flashed dangerously.

He nodded slowly, "Yes, the way I understand it they're tied to the protections my mother created when she died."

She was shaking her head, her eyes closed as if in pain. "Mr. Potter. Blood Wards, Blood Magic of any kind really, is highly illegal outside the field of healing."

"I wasn't aware, Director," he admitted.

She sighed, "Maybe so, but Albus is, and apparently simply didn't care." She nodded, opening her eyes. "Very well, I see your point about mismanagement, I will review and investigate your list in greater detail later. Now may I ask what it is, specifically you wish to discuss?"

Harry nodded, "As you can see from that list, my life is effectively run by Dumbledore. Considering what a horrendous mess my life has been so far, I have to say that I'm tired of it. I could care less if Dumbledore is my so called Magical Guardian. I want out before he gets me killed."

She smirked slightly at his impassioned statement. "Understandable…"

Harry nodded sharply, pleased he was on the right track, then a thought occurred to him. "Are you aware of the contents of the Prophecy Tom sought at the Department of Mysteries?" Harry asked.

"Tom?"

"Tom Riddle, also known as Lord Voldemort." Harry explained.

"No, I can't say that I am," she admitted somewhat grudgingly wondering where he was going now. She had never heard Dumbledore refer to Voldemort by any other name before now. Clearly he had been telling the boy things. She was unaware of how it was in fact the spectre of the villain himself in the Chamber of secrets who had told Harry his real name.

 _"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not ... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives ... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies …_ _"_ Harry recited carefully, making sure not to misquote any of it.

She blinked in surprise, before cursing under her breath. "Dumbledore knew this all along? He knew what this meant for you?"

"Yes, he was the one who heard the prophecy in the first place, and yet he's done nothing of any significance to see me prepared for the fight ahead," Harry agreed grimly.

She shook her head pushing to her feet and pacing. "Damn it all, Albus! What are you playing at?" She asked herself.

Harry cleared his throat uncomfortably. "The point in all this is, I'm leaving my relatives, and I'm going off the grid for a bit to see about learning what I need to know. Dumbledore undoubtedly doesn't want that to happen, and will attempt to stop me."

She eyed him speculatively and made a guess. "You want my help getting out from under him?"

Harry nodded agreement. "Yes. More specifically I want the Trace removed from myself and Hermione Granger so that we can defend ourselves without getting dragged into court and re-shackled to Dumbledore."

Something about that made Amelia sigh and rub her forehead. She opened her mouth to speak when there was a knock at the door. "Madam Director?" Daniels called.

"Yes Auror?" She asked irritably.

"Something just tripped the deep perimeter intent wards."

She stiffened and Harry came to alert. "How long ago," she asked urgently hurrying to the door and pulling it open.

Daniels stood back, "A minute tops." He was clearly tense. "I—"

Harry felt the world shift and he was just about floored by the pain from his scar. Obviously a teenager cringing and grasping their head seemingly at random grabs people's attentions, and the two adults in the room looked at him in consternation. He struggled for a moment before managing to slam down his admittedly limited occlumency shields. Harry's vision blurred, a shifting, shimmering layer on the outside of the building he was standing inside, all of it wavering overtop the image of Madam Bones' study.

"Harry?" He looked up to see Madam Bones looking at him intently.

He straightened up, trying to keep from wincing at the pain in his scar. "Director Bones, Voldemort has arrived, he's nearby."

"How do you know?" she asked, clearly shocked by his behaviour.

"I can feel him, he's observing the apartment now. They've set up an anti-apparition ward." He reported dully.

She considered that for barely a moment before trying to open a Floo line. The flames stayed stubbornly orange and red. She cursed, "Someone in the Floo office has closed our line." She turned considering them. "Daniels?"

"Y-yes, Director," Daniels was clearly severely unnerved now.

She spoke in a clear calm voice, so as not to risk misunderstandings. "Under the sink in the kitchen is a blue bottle, behind it is a small box with red lettering on the top. Bring it here." She instructed and after a jerky nod he complied.

Amelia herself pulled a small but ornately carved box made of dark wood and silver finishings from a drawer in her desk, opening it on the surface before her. Inside was a set of perhaps two dozen rune stones. Small polished stones, usually of marble with lines etched into them in an intricate pattern around a central symbol. As she proceeded to funnel magic into each stone, one after another, Harry felt a shiver in the air. "Director?" He asked, hoping for an explanation.

"Just raising the Wards to the highest alert level." She explained tightly, before closing the box and restoring it to its former hiding spot. There was a clatter and Daniels returned with what was for all appearances a small plastifold packing crate. As she began unwrapping it an uncomfortable thought occurred to him.

"Uh—" He cleared his throat, "I figure I should bring this up this now, before we go any further. But if we're about to be attacked, I suppose I should mention that a member of the Order of the Phoenix is unconscious outside in the alley, Madam Bones."

She just blinked at him for a minute. "What?" she barked.

"Well. I couldn't very well have her alerting Dumbledore that I was visiting you, could I?" Harry reminded her sheepishly.

She sighed and looked at him sternly as she pulled out what looked like a roadside flare and cracked it over her knee. "Stunned?" she demanded, Harry nodded. She shook her head then looked to her officer. "Daniels go get her, but hurry, You-Know-Who won't dawdle much longer." She watched the Auror run somewhat jerkily from the room. "Harry, we'll come to the matter of you assaulting someone later," he winced, "But for now, thank you for warning me. Can you feel anything else from him?"

Harry cocked his head, carefully lowering his shields a fraction, just enough to get a flash before slamming them back up. "He's uh—noticed the wards have gone up, he's…happy, ma'am?"

"Oh that's just wonderful, just what we need, a happy dark lord," she muttered. It wasn't long before they heard Daniels returning, and Harry felt something again.

"He's coming ma'am, I—what would you have me do?" He asked uncertainly as Daniels, helping a staggering Emmeline, came into the room.

"Harry, what are you doing here?" the Order member asked, clearly confused.

"Er—Long story," he ventured, then turned back to Amelia who was watching him speculatively.

"You've fought him more than just about anyone, how do you think you can help?" she asked curiously.

"I'm no match for him in duelling, but he really wants me dead, I might be able to distract him or draw him away if I make a big enough fuss. But Voldemort's a determined adversary, he may simply ignore me, coming after you first and then shift his attention after you're dead. He's a bit fixated that way. He's not the sort to rush, he likes to draw things out, he likes to play with his victims."

"So do you think between the two of us we can draw this out long enough for help to arrive?" Amelia asked, then winced as she felt one of the outer wards fall. "Daniels, if you would take Miss Vance and begin fortifying and sealing all the doors between here and the front entrance, I would appreciate it," she instructed soberly. The Auror took a considerably less foggy Order member by the elbow and they hurried off again.

"Is there anything you can think of that would distract or anger him enough to throw him off his game," Amelia asked.

Harry shook his head, "Making him mad _might_ get him to focus on a different target, but I wouldn't advise it, Voldemort's at his strongest when he's angry. The reason he's so damn effective with Avada Kedavra is that he's a master of harnessing his hate and rage. No, I think our best bet would be to get him thinking and planning as opposed to just attacking," Harry guessed.

Harry winced as there was an audible crack and another ward fell. "Damn, he's strong," Amelia noted as Vance and Daniels returned.

"Harry, you shouldn't be here, it's not safe," Emmeline declared, clearly worried.

Harry snorted, "A little too late for that I would say."

Amelia looked at Harry seriously, "Harry I need to ask something hard of you. They will likely take the same route you and I did to get to this room. I need you to take that side door and see if you can't draw off some of his men-carefully. Distract and subvert, that's the name of the game today, okay? Don't put yourself in unnecessary danger, if it comes down to it. Run," she instructed firmly.

He nodded, "You've got it." He crossed to the door and stepped out, pulling out his cloak and disappearing just in time to hear the front door get blown off its hinges.

He heard the high, cold voice that haunted his nightmares calling out as he edged his way cautiously towards the front of the home. "Ah, Madam Director Amelia Bones," Tom's voice was mocking, "You know you really have made such a mess for me over the years. I made so many overtures of friendship to your family in times gone by. But sadly every time I have been turned down." Harry could practically feel him shrugging. "But I am done making offers of friendship. Such a sad waste of a good bloodline." Harry heard another door crash open and the pounding of feet.

He was laughing at her now, "It will break young Susan's heart to watch the last of her family die before her very eyes. I've got her here, you know? You really should be more careful with your loved ones. They are ever such a weakness."

Harry stopped, his eyes widening as an inarticulate cry came from somewhere ahead of him. He knew what he had to do, Susan was the one thing which might force Amelia to capitulate. He slipped through a half open doorway and spotted the first pair of Death Eaters. They were searching the other end of the room, he even saw one of them pocket a shiny bauble. The cream of Voldemort's crop, these were not. Still, all Death Eaters were dangerous, and Harry wasn't feeling very merciful.

Moving further into the room, away from the doorway giving himself more room to dodge, Harry quickly sized up his first opponents. Two Death Eaters, if you could call them that. Given how they were randomly looting the house and not paying much attention to their surroundings, Harry doubted they were particularly skilled. Certainly nothing like those he had faced at the Department of Mysteries. Still, no need to be cocky, he decided. Amelia and Susan were counting on him..

He lined up his shots, drawing his second wand to cover both of them at once. The first went down under a stunner but the second caught a Reducto to the chest when he tried to draw his wand on the source of the spell fire. Harry tried to ignore the smouldering crater where the man's chest had been. _One man dead because of me,_ Harry noted darkly, _but no time to think on that now._ Looking at the one who he'd stunned, Harry remembered how easily the Death Eaters had revived each other at the DoM, and sent a bludgeoning curse towards the unconscious man's knee. Slightly sickened at the snapping noise it made as the kneecap shattered, Harry was at least comforted by knowing the target wouldn't easily get back in the fight easily.

He pushed forward, and heard murmuring ahead of him, but paused when Voldemort started taunting Amelia again. "Come now Amelia, hiding behind your defences while your family is in my grasp? Come out and play, the longer you delay the more she will suffer."

Harry hoped she didn't do anything rash, he was almost in position, if he was right he would… Yes there's Susan, I'd better hurry, I don't like the looks of those two. Harry slipped as quietly as he could into the room.

Harry bit down on a snarl when one of the Death Eaters roughly groped her, but the scum got what was coming to him a moment later when Susan head butted him causing him to fall back with cry. She caught a backhand from the other, the first was about on his feet and reaching for his wand when Harry lined up his shots. Although tempted to go with more destructive spells, Harry couldn't risk hitting Susan with anything lethal and instead opened with stunners. He cursed internally, as one of his shots went wide, but the second caught the bloody nosed Death Eater in the chest flinging him into the wall hard. The Second Death Eater barely registered this turn of events when a cutting curse came in at shoulder height, and he dropped silently to the floor.

Harry hurried to Susan and pulled back his cloak enough she could see it was him as he severed the bonds around her wrists and ankles. He pulled the gag which had been secured over her mouth. "Sorry I couldn't get them sooner, I was lining up my shots. Nice head butt," he whispered.

The redhead clambered to her feet, shooting him a grateful look, before aiming a brutal kick to the downed man's crotch followed by another to his jaw which snapped his head back. Harry winced appreciatively, "Never get on the bad side of a Bones, eh," he asked as she starting rooting around for her wand on the other Death Eater.

"Yeah, serves 'em right. Bastards." She growled before looking around. "What now, Harry?"

There was another crash a short way off. "Now we see if we can't draw off some of Voldemort's men, you think you can handle a couple if I lend you my cloak?" He asked.

She had shuddered slightly at the Dark Lord's name. "Yeah, I figure I know this place better than anyone, what about you?"

As he handed her his father's Invisibility Cloak, Harry shrugged. "I'm going to circle around and see if I can piss him off enough to come after me instead of your aunt. Why don't you see about watching this end of the house?" She nodded in return before she disappearing beneath the cloak.

"And Susan?" Harry said, Susan peeking out from beneath the cloak.

"There are more of them than there are of us. Don't hold back yeah?" Susan's eyes hardened briefly and her replying nod was much firmer this time. Never get on the bad side of a Bones indeed.

It was time to buy some time and bait the monster. "I'm afraid you won't be doing anything to Susan after all Tom…" Harry called as loudly as he could, hoping Amelia had heard that. He moved to prepare for possible Death Eater reinforcements.

There was a pregnant pause. "Potter." His name was almost a hiss. "Come to try and save the day again? That habit will see you killed before long."

Harry heard running feet and a pair of Death Eaters burst into the room. But Harry had placed himself well in the corner near the door and as the two ran into the room, looking everywhere but behind them, he caught the first off guard with a banishing spell to the back of the head. There was a muted crunch and he went down with a wet thump. The other spun and fired off a cutting curse wildly, which carved through a small table several feet to Harry's left. Unfazed by the not-so-near miss, Harry prepared to respond but a red burst from open air knocked the Death Eater down. Harry nodded in the direction of the spells source before sending another banishing spell into the downed terrorist's wand arm, breaking it and the wand he still clutched.

Harry started moving again, more cautiously, as he was now without his cloak. Voldemort apparently felt the need to speak. "If you were hoping to distract me Potter, it won't work. First the Director then you…" Harry had to move cautiously, that voice was relatively close. He moved in silence and felt one of the inner wards fall, not long now before Voldemort was to the study. He hoped Madam Bones had the good sense to make an exit before she was cornered.

"You know, Tom," Harry called, "Considering everything we've been through in regards to each other, I thought you'd put a little more faith in prophecy. Then again you never heard the whole thing did you?" Harry winced as a wall a few meters away blew out, he used that time to move to another position. "No, you only heard that first part," he spelled himself with a voice throwing charm and spoke again, "The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches…" he mocked. "Well now, you couldn't have that could you? You had to go and do something rash. Like hunting me down and attacking me and my family." He moved again, cancelling the charm to confuse any who might be searching for him, "You know I often wonder why you did that?"

He paused he noted the attacks on the wards seemed to have slowed, though one fell fairly soon after that observation. "I mean, you'd think with your pureblood rhetoric nonsense you'd have found the other possible target more appealing. I mean, why attack a half-blood when there's a pureblood who matches the description just as well? I can only come to one conclusion," he winced as he felt the last ward fall and began speaking again, hoping Amelia had moved. "Maybe, Tom, it's because you saw me as having more in common with you?"

"Silence, boy! I will tear your lying tongue from your head!" Voldemort shrieked, Harry assumed he'd just found the study empty considering their were no sounds of battle yet. Peering around one of the hallway's corners, Harry jerked his head back quickly as a sickly yellow beam almost took his head off. Gesturing behind him and hoping the invisible Susan would see and understand the instruction to wait, Harry risked another quick peek down the hallway, spotting a single Death Eater who was lining up a second shot. Ducking low, Harry aimed for a point on the floor part-way down the hall before casting a reductor curse sending wood splinters ricocheting down the hall towards the Death Eater.

Harry leaned out from behind the wall to see said Death Eater deflecting most of the shrapnel with a shield while he blinked and rubbed debris from his eyes. Harry quickly followed up with a stunner, it didn't manage to penetrate the shield, but it did stagger the Death Eater and prevent him from returning fire for a moment. Not wanting to get pinned down trading spells, Harry decided to try something new. Aiming with his off-hand wand behind the Death Eater, who still held the shield up, he cried "Accio!" even as he began the wand movements for a blasting curse on his main hand. A vase flew from the end table behind the Death Eater and smashed against his back, who turned slightly at the unexpected attack. As his shield flickered at the distraction, Harry finished the wand movements and muttered, "Confringo."

The curse shattered the weakened shield and impacted the Death Eater in the shoulder, removing his arm and sending his body spiraling into the wall. He would not be getting back up.

Harry took a few moments to catch his breath before carefully moving further up the hallway, feet shuffling on the debris laden floor. That last spell had been anything but quiet. Casting the summoning charm with his off-hand had been a lot harder than expected. Certainly something to practice more, he decided. Harry quickly recast the voice-projection spell before resuming his taunting..

"Well, that's not very nice Tom, after all it was you who told me that little story." Harry could practically taste the hesitation that had produced. "You, or rather that shadow of you, was oh so happy to boast and gloat right before I destroyed that memory container. I mean really? Who makes a journal that can talk and then hands it off to Lucius Malfoy? I mean that was just asking for—" He had to duck as multiple sections of wall blew out all at once raining him in plaster and wood splinters.

The silence following that didn't last long, there was a commotion and then the sound of spells on the far side of the house began to echo about. He stifled a curse and began making his way cautiously back around the perimeter of the floor toward Susan.

"Boy, I will kill you slowly to be sure, but first I have business with the Director," Voldemort gloated and Harry heard a strangled cry from somewhere of to his left. He made it to the front entrance before finding Daniels. He had caught a cutting curse, and was lying on the floor bleeding profusely. Harry didn't have time to stop and check on him though as he spotted a Death Eater moving cautiously ahead of him, he assumed it was with the intent of sneaking up on Amelia and the others.

Harry stunned the man almost casually, and he crumpled smacking his face hard on the floor, Harry heard the crunch of his nose hitting the ground. Picking up the pace, he heard running feet but couldn't see anything, he assumed Susan was moving to follow him as he dashed towards the fighting.

Harry rounded the corner to see Amelia and Emmeline side by side in the middle of what had been the dinning room, taking partial cover behind an overturned table while they shielded. The table had clearly been enchanted to resist spell damage, but was already burnt and gouged. Firing spells from across the room at the beleaguered women was Voldemort. He stood in front of another entrance to the dining room, red eyes bright and a terrifying grin on his face as he threw a never-ending stream of magic towards the two women. He was clearly toying with them.

As the Dark Lord kept the two on the defensive, four Death Eaters were slowly creeping around the edge of the room, staying clear of their master's line of fire and out of sight of the two women as they moved to flank. Harry wasn't going to let that happen. Fortunately, the four were too focused on the battle between Amelia, Emmeline and Voldemort to have noticed Harry as yet.

Edging around the door frame, trying to stay as hidden as possible, Harry lined up on the last Death Eater of the four before focusing all his magic and taking a deep breath. He'd get only one chance at this shot.

With a cry of, "Depulso," Harry unleashed his pent-up magic. The white flare impacted the Death Eater center-mass and sent him hurtling backwards at speed... directly towards Voldemort. Harry had hoped the Death Eater would actually hit the Dark Lord, but Voldemort's reactions had to be seen to be believed. Almost as soon as Harry's spell had hit, Voldemort's eyes had flicked towards the incoming body. Taking a single step to the side and flicking his wand, Voldemort effortlessly diverted his wayward minion, who flew past and slammed into the wall with a bone-breaking crunch. Still, the momentary distraction did allow Amelia and Emmeline to briefly drop their shields and return fire.

Unfortunately, the three remaining Death Eaters had also been alerted by Harry's opening salvo. They quickly turned and opened fire, spells blasting past and through the wood of the door frame. Harry flung himself back away from the spells, but still felt one of them pass close enough to burn through his clothes over one rib and sent him stumbling to the floor. As the Death Eaters charged through the door, Harry rolled away behind some furniture which jerked and pushed into him as it absorbed spellfire.

Coming to his knees, Harry peeked overtop of his cover in time to see Susan's wand emerge from under the invisibility cloak and send a spell into one of the Death Eaters, separating his head from his shoulders, the body slumping to the ground. Unfortunately this revealed her position and the remaining opponents fired blindly into the area where the curse originated. As he watched, Harry heard a thumping sound and Susan appeared on the floor, diving to dodge the spells. The invisibility cloak had slipped off her.

Seeing Susan vulnerable, Harry growled and leaped over his cover, sending simultaneous stunners from his wands at the two remaining assailants. Even if he didn't hit them, at least it would take the pressure off Susan for a moment. One Death Eater shielded, although the curse shattered his shield, the other dodged out of the way of the unexpected attack, but tripped over the debris on the floor. Seeing the Death Eater still on his feet as the larger threat, and hoping Susan could recover in time, Harry charged forward, still firing spells. His target shielded, but was too busy defending himself to return fire as Harry slid on his side under the man's shield, straightening his leg into the Death Eater's knee. With a crunch the man's knee bent backwards and he fell onto Harry yelling in pain.

The two grappled for a moment, but Harry had been expecting the fight, while most wizards never even thought about non-magical combat. Being pounded by his cousin and his friends for years might not be the same as martial arts training, but if there was one thing Harry knew, it was how to take a punch. Slamming his elbow into the man's injured knee gave Harry the opening he needed; he twitched his wand at his opponent and growled "Stupefy!" Still distracted by the pain, there was no room to dodge and no time to shield. His opponent slumped into unconsciousness.

Trying to move the weight off himself, Harry saw a flash of light and pulled the unconscious Death Eater onto himself. He felt the body twitch as it absorbed a spell in the back, before Susan's voice shouted "Depulso!" Pushing the body away, Harry saw the last Death Eater crash into the far wall, Susan standing panting, her wand still trained at her target. Pushing himself wearily to his feet, he nodded his thanks to her before staggering back towards the sounds of continued fighting.

He wasn't sure what he intended to do in his condition but it wasn't beyond the realm of possibility that — He paused as the distant crackle and pop of apparitions filled the air. Reinforcements were here.

Unfortunately Amelia's battle seemed to be going poorly. Emmeline was down, dead or unconscious Harry didn't know, but she wasn't moving. He spotted Voldemort as he advanced against the tiring Director of the DMLE. He bellowed, "Tom!" With the same breath, he launched a brace of reductors at the man. Another followed on his own as Susan launched her own volley.

Voldemort snarled, he had been able to deflect or block all of their incoming spells but not before he lost the initiative against Amelia. He had heard the apparitions as clearly as they had. This battle was over and he knew it. He hit the outer wall of the apartment and dissolved into smoke before their eyes and burst outside. Harry had seen Death Eaters and Voldemort fight before, he knew it was too soon to consider this a victory. "Everyone down!"

Amelia and Susan hit the floor at the same moment that most of the remaining walls and windows blew out as Voldemort launched one last spiteful flurry of attacks against them. They waited, but Harry could already feel Voldemort's presence rapidly dissipating. Among the crash and tinkle of glass and broken walls Harry heard Susan, "Is he gone?"

"I think so," Harry ventured, a touch nervously, he heard raised voices in the distance.

Amelia was apparently on the ball. "Susan, give Potter that cloak and the two of you head to my office. We'll talk there, but I need to see to the reinforcements."

He took the rumpled invisibility cloak from Susan with a murmured thank you as they dashed into the study. The door was sitting half shattered on its hinges but otherwise the room was relatively intact compared to the rest of the house.

He pulled the cloak around himself before he sat in the corner with a huffed sigh. He heard at least two familiar voices as Amelia called out to her Aurors entering the house. Tonks and Shacklebolt. "You two, get Daniels and Miss Vance to Saint Mungo's. Tonks, you're on muggle-wrangling duty, I can hear the sirens already. Shacklebolt? I need you to help the others round up the bodies and prisoners. Dawlish, Jones, Edgerly, you lot are with him." Amelia barked out her orders.

Harry was impressed by Madame Bones' ability to appear so calm. Barely a couple minutes before she had been facing death at the hands of Voldemort himself, and now she was organizing the Auror reinforcements like it was just another day. He was jolted out of his musing by the sounds of a choked sob, and looked over to see Susan sitting on the floor, her knees pulled up to her chest as she shivered.

Harry knew about what she was feeling. He might have been accustomed to the constant peril that seemed to define his life, but Susan had probably never experienced anything like this. Casting a silencing charm around them, Harry gently knelt down and moved towards her, careful not to startle her as he slowly wrapped an arm around her shuddering shoulders and positioned the cloak so it covered them both. Susan initially stiffened at the unexpected contact, then gradually relaxed and leaned into Harry's side, her breathing steadying out slightly.

"Slow, deep breaths, Susan. According to Hermione that's the adrenaline bleeding out of your system, you'll feel pretty jittery for a while yet. Don't worry, it happens to everyone."

Susan inclined her head slightly, glancing up at Harry, her eyes unable to settle anywhere for long.

"You... you seemed so calm the whole time. How do you do it?

"You're assuming I was calm. I was scared out of my tree the whole time, I just don't let it get in the way anymore," Harry replied with a small chuckle that was anything but amused.

"I thought... I was prepared. I worked hard at the DA. I would have gone with you to the Ministry if you'd asked. But when those men grabbed me... I was so scared."

"You did great, Susan. You kept your head when it counted and didn't give up. I'm sure your aunt is really proud of you. I certainly am. You're going to feel messed up for a bit, but you did good tonight."

Susan looked like she wanted to protest, but eventually let her eyes drop. Harry gave her a gentle squeeze of his one-arm hug before he heard her whisper, "Thank you. For saving me. For saving my aunt. We'd both be dead if you hadn't been here."

Harry wasn't sure if that was true, but didn't want to argue with her. He just rubbed her back gently before replying. "You stood by me in the DA. You don't need to thank me for standing by you".

Susan seemed to relax a bit more at that, letting out her breath and leaning more weight into him. She opened her mouth to speak before they were both startled at a new voice from outside the doorway. A voice they both recognized.

"Amelia?" Harry froze at that voice, Dumbledore. He hoped to high heaven that Moody wasn't with him.

"In here, Chief Warlock," she called back.

There was a few moments pause, presumably as Dumbledore picked his way through the wreckage towards her. "Amelia, I can't tell you how relieved I am to find you alive."

He heard a dark chuckle. "It was a near thing, Albus."

"Indeed, it appears Voldemort has taken an interest in you," Dumbledore observed sagely.

"I was lucky I managed to get off the flare off when I did. What are you doing here, Albus?" she asked tiredly.

"I heard word of the attack and came as soon as I was able," he explained soberly.

Amelia snorted, "You hoped to catch Voldemort I take it," she asked, Harry could hear the scepticism.

"I fear merely catching Voldemort will not work, not in the long term. No, I'm afraid he will need to die. Even if I may not be able to find it in myself to deliver the killing blow," Dumbledore explained.

"Your good heart might see many killed before this war is over Albus," Harry heard her sigh, "Though I do thank you for the watcher you placed on my house."

There was a pause. "Ah, I assume Emmeline told you who she was with, then?"

"It's not exactly hard to figure out Albus. She lives nowhere near here, and yet happens to be in just the right place at the right time to help me?"

Dumbledore chuckled. "You always were a sharp student Amelia, brighter than many. The hat laments fairly regularly letting you talk him into putting you in Hufflepuff."

Amelia snorted derisively, following it with an exasperated sigh. "Albus, as much as I enjoy chatting with you, I have an investigation to run, and a house to clean up. How about I stop by your office later and we talk details."

"Of course Amelia, I merely wish to once again convey my gratitude you made it. Good evening, Madam Director," he said pleasantly. There was a moment's silence, then the pop of an apparition.

A couple of Aurors had made their way back to Amelia and were reporting in as soon as the Headmaster left. "Vance and Daniels are on their way to Saint Mungo's, Director. The Medi-witch said Vance had head trauma and will likely be out for a couple days. Daniels is worse off, we'll have to see if they get to him in time. Still haven't heard anything from Susan's tail..."

Whatever Amelia said was merely a murmur, before raising again. "Very good you two. Check the perimeter and make sure no witnesses slip the net. Auror Tonks, do you have a report?"

"Yes, Director. I've talked to the Police, they accepted that badge you issued us without question. Surprised the heck out of me…" Tonks noted.

"That badge marked you as the counter terrorism branch of their intelligence agency." Amelia explained.

"Ah, spies, that'd explain it then." Tonks agreed. "Anyways, they've backed off, and are helping with the cleanup."

"Anyone injured out there?" Amelia asked.

"No, thank goodness, seems when the explosions started the Muggles ran for it. Can't blame them."

Amelia sounded relieved. "Good, now you head back to the ministry, I need a squad put together and I want you to find out who shut off my Floo line." Her voice was tense, clearly she wanted whoever had betrayed her to swing from a very high branch with a short rope.

"Yes ma'am," Harry had to admit that hearing Tonks' professional side was interesting, he'd only ever seen her off duty before—

This observation was cut off by the distinctive sound of Tonks tripping and cursing. Harry had to stifle a snort of amusement. It seemed that to a certain degree, Tonks was Tonks though. Susan chuckled, apparently she too was familiar with Tonks.

There was the clomp of feet, and the sound of Amelia picking through the wreckage paused. "Hey Shack," she greeted.

"Director, seems you've got quite a mess here ma'am. Just thought you should know the Abbots just showed up, apparently they're wondering why Susan didn't show up at the market?"

"She's here Shack, and don't worry, she's not injured. Though her tail is missing," Amelia explained, and Harry could hear the relief in her voice.

"Do you want to handle getting her statement, or would you like me to do it?" Shacklebolt offered.

"No, that's fine I'll do it," Amelia assured him. "You have anything on the culprits?"

Shacklebolt was apologetic. "Not yet, ma'am."

"Well…see to the perimeter with the others, we'll join you when it's time to leave. I have some things to clear away." She decided.

"Yes ma'am." Shacklebolt's footsteps faded away.

They waited in silence for a time before he heard Amelia make her way back to the study, muttering to herself. Harry dispelled the silencing spell and removed the cloak from himself and Susan. Amelia initially seemed surprised at their closeness as they became visible, but her expression softened upon seeing Harry's arm wrapped protectively around a still clearly distraught Susan. Briefly making eye contact with him, she gave a small smile and her eyes brightened in gratitude.

Harry gave a small nod in response before gently helping Susan to her feet and stepping back. Amelia moved forward and swept her niece into a tight embrace, which Susan immediately returned. They stayed that way for almost a minute, both women reassuring themselves and each other that they were ok, that the nightmare, for now, had passed. Visibly steeling herself, Amelia stepped back from Susan and motioned both her and Harry to take a seat on some of the surviving furniture. Setting her face into what Harry now thought of as 'Auror on duty' Amelia conjured herself a chair and sat in front of the two teens, giving Susan an inquiring look only slightly tempered by relief.

"Well that was a fine mess. Susan, you mind telling me why you weren't with the Abbot's?"

Susan flushed a little in embarrassment. "Sorry, Aunt Amy, I got distracted when Harry showed up and forgot some of my stuff. I came back to get it and they caught me on the front step. I told my bodyguard to wait on the walk while I came back in, it was just going to take a minute, but they were right there as I headed back out."

"Well, I'm glad you're alright, I assume I have you to thank for that too, Harry?" Amelia asked.

"I was just doing what I could to help ma'am," he said. "And Susan was no slouch herself. We helped each other."

"Still, I'm grateful. Susan, I'm going to have to request you not mention Harry was here tonight to anyone, okay? Nor anything you might hear while we talk." She looked at her ward.

"Yes Auntie. Anything to help Harry," Susan agreed, bobbing her head.

Madam Bones raised her eyebrow at her niece, who flushed slightly further under her gaze, before turning back to Harry with a considering look. "Now if I recall right, you wanted me to remove the Trace on you?" He nodded. "Can't blame you, if Dumbledore is having me watched, I would bet money that there are far more watching you."

Harry shrugged, it had after all only been Mundungus the night previous as far as he knew.

She sighed, then muttered, "Ironically, you needn't have worried about it in the first place. Although in this case I'll be thanking my lucky stars for the mistake."

"Oh?" Harry said.

She peered at him seriously, then at her niece. "Now I don't want you spreading this around, but I'm going to let you both in on a little secret, seeing as your warning and aid saved me and my niece's lives." She spread her hand. "The Trace is effectively a myth." She noted the shocked expressions. "It used to track the time, date, caster and location of a spell cast within monitored areas. But times have been tough on the Improper Use of Magic Office, the department in charge of monitoring underage magic has had to…modify its parameters. It will still detect large amounts of magic, and we periodically check out unexplained sources, but only if they cause consistent blips. Once a muggleborn starts Hogwarts, it only watches those specific homes, and even then it's mostly just time and place," she explained wearily.

"Magical households aren't watched, as it costs too much to maintain the spells which differentiate between casters on such a massive scale, a pureblood bill for budget cuts if ever there was one. I could go on about the system's deficiencies but we'd be here all night," she finished.

Harry cocked his head as he considered that, "So tonight when me and Susan were using our wands?" He asked.

"You didn't show up because this is a pureblood household." Amelia nodded.

Harry could just imagine how irate that would make Hermione. All things considered though, Harry wasn't about to complain. "Ah. Still, I'm glad I was here to help."

"Us too," Susan offered.

Amelia shook her head. "There were five of us and still he tore us up."

Harry and Susan both looked sheepish, "Uh, yeah, your house seems to be missing a lot of doors and walls."

"Good point," She leaned back in her chair and sighed, brushing back her hair which had fallen out of her working bun. "Damn, Fudge is going to have me searching for vigilantes when he hears about Vance, and Dumbledore will lose his mind when he figures out you were here."

"Thank you for not tipping him about me, ma'am," Harry offered shyly.

She chuckled, "You're welcome. After hearing your grievances I'm not sure it was any of his business anyway." She shook her head. "Damn him, and his Order. All he does is get good people killed," she grimaced. "And if it's anything like the last time, half my damn force is working for him anyways…"

Harry tried to cover his discomfort with a cough, but Amelia hadn't gotten where she was by being unobservant. She peered at him closely "And you know who they are don't you?"

He sighed, "Uh—yeah a couple, not sure I want them listed anywhere though. After all if Voldemort somehow got a hold of the records…" He didn't need to finish. She was already nodding.

She sat and contemplated him for a time. "If I were to give you my word to not have it written down anywhere, no records, no lists, no nothing, would you be willing to tell me who's working off the books for Dumbledore?"

Harry considered, then grudgingly nodded. "Okay, but I could use a favour as well if you're willing."

"Such as?" She asked cautiously.

"The Granger residence. I want it warded six ways to Sunday," he stipulated.

"Hermione's house?" Susan guessed, and he nodded.

"Yeah, I can't believe the Death Eaters haven't paid it a visit yet," Harry voiced quietly, the thought of it filling his insides with the liquid mercury of dread.

Amelia nodded, it was a small thing to arrange, they had a deal with Gringotts for State witnesses anyway. "Deal."

Harry nodded and started thinking. "You want everyone I know about, or just the Aurors?"

She shrugged, "Strictly speaking I can't do anything about the ones who aren't on the force. Under our laws, they're not technically doing anything illegal or unprofessional."

Harry considered. "Alright, but only you can know this. Nobody else. I trust you, not the whole DMLE. Sorry Susan," he said, turning to regard the girl beside him, "I trust you too, but I know for a fact that both Snape and Dumbledore regularly use legilimency on students and they aren't the only people with that skill. Given who raised you, I'm sure you know some occlumency, but I don't want you put at unnecessary risk by having this information in your mind."

Susan nodded in agreement with this line of thinking before she slid further down the couch and deliberately turned her eyes away from him and Amelia. He sighed, feeling like he might be betraying good people, hopefully not in a way that would get them hurt or killed before casting another silencing spell so only Amelia could hear him. "Shacklebolt, Tonks, Jones and Moody are all part of the Order. They're the only Aurors I know of in the ranks. There are perhaps…ten, more people who aren't associated with Law Enforcement as far as I know…"

Amelia blinked at him, then leaned forward and pinched the bridge of her nose as if fighting off a sudden headache, for a moment clearly too exhausted to be angry. "Shit, that's three of my best, including a living legend all under Dumbledore's thumb."

"As I understand it ma'am, Tonks just followed Moody when he asked her along. Shacklebolt's a friend of Dumbledore, and Jones likely followed Tonks once she was talked into it all."

"Still...damn. No wonder Dumbledore never seems surprised by anything," she muttered bitterly. Madam Bones looked up to him and her expression softened. "Thank you Harry, I'm not sure how I'll handle that just now, but I appreciate it." Harry nodded in response, before tilting his head towards Susan, who was still patiently staring at the far wall so she couldn't read their lips. Amelia nodded and Harry dropped the silencing spell before gently tapping Susan on the shoulder. She turned and smiled before scooting back to where she had been sitting before. Turning back to Amelia, Harry caught her gaze as she considered him for a time, her eyes flicked over him as if analyzing and categorizing him. "You did well tonight, actually you both did. I saw some of your handiwork out there, better than many Aurors fresh from the Academy manage."

She looked at her daughter in all but fact with a measured gaze. "I had heard rumours about your little group last year, Harry. Nothing concrete of course, just bitching from Dolores and Cornelius to be honest…It never occurred to me to wonder if you had been part of that, Susan. At the time I may have been…reserved in my opinion of such a group." Amelia carefully gauged Susan's reaction, which was to look at her feet in embarrassment before turning back to Harry. "Now, however, I couldn't be more grateful for your part in her education, Harry,"

Amelia's gaze turned to contemplate the boy before her and shook her head. "You say you're leaving for a while though?"

"Yes, the hope is to find someway to defeat Voldemort," he agreed.

She cocked her head to the side. "And you don't trust Dumbledore or the Ministry to help you in this," more stating a fact then asking.

"Not currently," Harry agreed, actually sounding apologetic.

She nodded thoughtfully not really blaming him. "There's a good chance that Fudge will not be the Minister in very short order."

"I think I'd heard that, ma'am. Though I admit I can't remember exactly where." At her quizzical expression, he followed up, "I don't read the Prophet much, ma'am."

Amelia smiled thinly, understanding why that might be. "Ah." She folded her hands in front of her on the desk. "Then it might interest you to know that I'm in the running to replace him."

Harry blinked in surprise and caught her meaning with an entertaining expression. "You'd be willing to help me?"

She chuckled, "Yes, for a myriad of reasons, not the least of which is that prophecy you told me about. But also because you appear to piss off Voldemort like no other." She considered that as her niece giggled a little bit hysterically, clearly she was still suffering a tad from shock, or more accurately, from the earlier adrenaline rush and subsequent crash. "Well, it is my considered opinion that if you are indeed to play a critical role in what is to come, the Ministry should be there to help you do so."

Harry seemed uncertain. "I—it wouldn't be like the Ministry using me as some sort of poster boy would it? Because I don't think I could do that ma'am."

She smirked, "Yes, I believe word has sufficiently gotten around that you aren't the sort to revel in your fame."

He nodded, "No ma'am… I—it's just that they call me the Boy-Who-Lived," he said the moniker with disdain, "like I'm some sort of superhero or something, and really…it's not like it was me who killed Voldemort the last time, I was just an infant after all." He shrugged helplessly.

She understood. "Yes, that is something people seem to forget. But nevertheless you seem to have caused his downfall," she pointed out, but he was already shaking his head.

"No ma'am, that was mum who did that."

This caused obvious consternation in the other two. "Oh?"

Harry nodded. "Yes. As I understand it she used a spell, possibly blood magic, but I don't know, to fuel the protections she placed on me…basically with her love for me. Her sacrifice protecting me was the ultimate display of that love as I understand it. It was that which made the shield strong enough to rebound the killing curse. At least, that's what Professor Dumbledore seems to think, and this time I have no reason to doubt him."

"That is intriguing, I hadn't heard that before."

Harry just shrugged. "So you see ma'am, whenever people look at me like that, I feel like a fraud. They celebrate my supposed victory over him, call me the Chosen One, or whatever and forget that Voldemort's defeat cost me everything. My home, my family, my childhood. And all along it wasn't even me who managed it."

Amelia nodded. "I understand. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, either. Lily was a brilliant woman."

Harry was caught flat footed by that. "You knew her, ma'am?"

"Just as acquaintances. Your father was an Auror at the same time as myself, I met her a few time at parties. The thing I remember most about her was that Lily was always sharp as a tack," Amelia said fondly.

Harry just seemed to become further exhausted, yet thoughtful, at that revelation. "I didn't even know Dad was an Auror."

She watched him for a time before returning to the issue at hand. "No Harry, I wouldn't use you as a poster boy. Don't you worry about that. But I would need to figure out how best to use your talents." She shifted in her seat. "That is assuming I ever become Minister in the first place."

Harry smiled wanly. "You'd have my vote ma'am."

"Thank you," she said offering a half smile in return. "Now then, am I right in presuming you wish to be getting back to wherever you're staying for the night? Do you need a lift?" She asked.

He shrugged. "Yes ma'am, but I could just catch the train."

She pulled out a polished stone from a bag in her desk. "The anti-portkey ward is down, along with the rest of the wards, so if you'd prefer to hurry, I'll use this to send you where you need to go, where do you want to get dropped off?"

"Belsize Park station," Harry decided.

The older woman nodded but paused before going any further. "In the days to come I may need to contact you. How do you wish me to do so?"

Harry considered the question for a few seconds, his face making interesting contortions as he struggled with an idea. "Do you have a secure method we could use to talk privately, ma'am?"

She nodded, hesitating only a moment before looking to Susan. "Susan, would you bring a couple of the personal communicators?"

Susan nodded and paced out of the room, looking at Harry and smiling encouragingly to him. She had, thanks to the evening's events and conversations between him and her aunt, come to understand just how much weight was on his shoulders.

Amelia waited until Susan was out of the room, "Before we send you on your way Harry, I had a question. Do you know exactly how it is you can feel him like you do?"

Harry drew his hand back through his hair. "No ma'am, not really. I just know I see him, something to do with my scar. It's always worst when he's nearby, but if he's happy or angry I can feel it from far away, too."

She peered at him closely, the shadows under his eyes were getting more pronounced. "And which was he tonight?"

Harry grimaced and looked away for a moment. "He was happy ma'am, he thought he had you. He was certain of it."

She grinned at him briefly, trying to buoy him up a little. "Glad you proved him wrong."

Susan returned with a small pile of objects. Harry looked at them before sighing. "Ah, communications mirrors. I have one, but it's broken," he admitted, thinking of the shattered mirror in the box in his pack.

"Oh, that might work nicely, would you mind if I took a look at it?" Amelia asked. Harry nodded his thanks to Susan as she pushed one of the mirrors into his hands and handing off the broken mirror to her aunt. Amelia considered, it and played with the ruined pieces for a moment. "Not spell damage then, hang on a moment." She drew her wand and cast a repair spell at it. It took a minute but the pieces flowed back into place and re-fused together. She handed it back to him. "If you speak into your mirror and instruct it to request communications with me, I'll hear my own and pick it up. If you want you can take one of our spares, it's not like there's a lot of Bones' who need them just now."

"Thank you ma'am. This will help a lot," Harry said quietly.

"I'll look into that matter I was discussing with you, but first let's get you home, you look beat." She commented, and he smiled ruefully at her.

Amelia set to work enchanting the portkey, while her niece surprised Harry by giving him a hug and a peck on the cheek. "Thank you, Harry, you really saved our bacon tonight, we won't forget it," Susan promised, blushing slightly.

Harry hugged her back before letting go. "It was my pleasure, Susan. You take care of yourself."

Amelia stepped back from her work and offered Harry a handshake. "Take care of yourself Harry, with any luck you'll hear from me soon. In the meantime, well- search if you feel that's what you need to do, but you have some time, take it, get your strength back, you've had a hard time lately. Nobody will begrudge you a little time to get back in working order." She told him seriously.

He nodded. "Yes ma'am."

"Good, now get going kiddo, you look like death warmed over."

He chuckled and grasped the stone, and disappeared.

—-


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:** Well Doc Manager is STILL messed up all to high heaven. Hence why the last chapter didn't have an author's note, as I usually do that on FanFiction rather than in document on my computer. Regardless, here's the next chapter. I've been pretty darn pleased with the response this story has gotten thus far!

 **Warnings:** References to past abuse

—-

 **Chapter 4: Aftermath**

Harry stumbled up to the small gate into the Granger's yard, fumbling with the latch before staggering his way up to the front door. He did his best to straighten himself out before knocking but it was really a futile effort - he looked like a mess. It was a wonder he didn't have a mess of police officers after him trying to discern what crime or disaster he had been involved in. Thankfully the area surrounding Belsize park station was not so busy at this time of night that the average person had noticed his less than glamorous arrival by Portkey in the alley behind the place.

His slow journey from there to the Granger residence had not resulted in panicked cries or general running about, so he counted himself lucky. _Why didn't I just use my invisibility cloak?_ He wondered vaguely. _Oh yeah, because I'm an idiot._

His knock was met with the sound of footsteps and scrabbling as someone worked the lock back into it's housing, before the door opened and revealed Hermione. It took barely a moment for her to take in his disheveled appearance and sigh. She shook her head as she stood out of the way letting him through the door. "Oh Harry, what have you been up to this time?" she asked in exasperated concern.

He waved that off as he leaned against the wall just inside the door. "In a minute okay?" He indicated his side. "You wouldn't happen to have some burn ointment or some such would you?" he asked. It was funny, he could swear that the burn hadn't hurt this bad earlier. Was it possible for a wound to hurt worse over time? _Oh, it must be the Adrenalin wearing off. Is that a good thing or a bad thing I wonder?_

She nodded slowly. "Come on we'll get you settled on the couch, as to ointment I'll have to ask mum," she said helping him into the living room.

He was struck by the notion that he must have caught more debris during the fight than he had thought, because judging by how his leg felt he'd taken a hammer to his shin. Yet another thing which had surprisingly not bothered him until now.

There was the sound of feet and Emma paced into the room only to stop dead as she took in Harry's appearance. She took in the blood, scorch marks and generally haggard appearance of the young man before whirling to her daughter and pointing at him accusingly. "And you want to be a part of this?"

Hermione shot her mother a look which would have liquified iron. "Mum, not the time," she growled firmly. "Do we have some burn ointment?"

Emma considered her for a moment her face set in a stubborn scowl, before finally giving a bit of ground. "We have an antiseptic paste with anesthetic in it."

Hermione nodded. "That'll do nicely, would you please fetch it for us?" she asked, studiously polite despite the tension between them. Harry felt guilty at upsetting the already tenuous peace between Hermione and her parents.

Emma nodded before bustling from the room, nearly colliding with Dan who had likely been drawn by the sound of discontented voices. Upon taking in Harry and his daughter his expression turned to a scowl. He threw himself into the chair across from them and watched them darkly with a closed expression. He looked to his daughter who had stepped between her father and Harry, her arms crossed protectively over her chest. "When we spoke this evening you said he didn't go looking for trouble…" he noted sourly.

Any response to that was cut off by Emma returning, nevertheless Hermione silenced her father with a quelling look, before turning back to her friend. "Harry, what happened out there?" she asked worriedly, all but wringing her hands."I thought you were just going to have a talk with Madam Bones."

He nodded shifting uncomfortably on the couch with a wince. "That was the plan." He agreed. "Turns out Voldemort was looking to add another name to his list of kills though. He showed up while I was there and attacked the house."

Hermione's mouth had dropped open in shock, but she promptly closed it with an audible click. "Oh God! What happened, how are you still—Pull up your shirt!" She instructed rapidly falling into a frenzied need to ensure her friend was alright.

Harry ignored that instruction for the moment. "We managed to hold out until the Aurors and a certain Headmaster showed up. Madam Bones was kind enough to cover for me, but I think it was too little too late to keep it from Dumbledore," he noted with a grimace.

Hermione pointed to the melted fabric of his shirt, and the scorched flesh undoubtedly beneath it. "What kind of curse did this?"

Harry shifted, trying to find a comfortable position to lay in. "Cutting I think, this is just the wash though. I got out of the way of the worst of it obviously."

Emma raised a tentative hand to get the two teenager's attention. "What's going on here exactly? Who is Madam Bones?"

Hermione shook her head ruefully, remembering that her mother had no reason to know this already. "Madam Bones is the current head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, which makes her roughly equivalent to the British Minister of Defence. Harry wanted to talk with her about removing the Trace so we could legally defend ourselves and went to her place in the hopes of meeting her."

Harry nodded, and hissed slightly as his shirt tugged at his wound. "Yeah, but Voldemort decided she has been too big a roadblock in his plans, so he came after her tonight with a pack of Death Eaters."

"How many?" Hermione asked, she had assumed the Death Eaters at the Ministry had been the bulk of Voldemort's followers.

Harry shrugged. "Just over a dozen I think?" He saw her unsettled look and explained. "It was me, Madam Bones, Emmaline Vance, Auror Daniels and Susan against the lot of them."

A look of comprehension lit her face. "Ah, hence your cover being blown. Vance is with the Order," she noted looking to his face for confirmation.

He nodded. "Yeah, she and Daniels were knocked out in the fight, they were both alive when I left though. The Death Eaters got the worse end of the bargain though. I think these were the dregs, I didn't see Wormtail or Bellatrix there. Me and Susan were enough to handle them while Amelia and Vance held off Tom…"

"Tom?" This came from Dan. He'd just heard dark wizards referred to as WormTail and Bellatrix, somehow the name Tom just didn't measure up.

"Tom Marvolo Riddle, AKA Dark Lord of the British Isles Voldemort, AKA The Dark Tosser, Head Hypocrite or Lord Voldishorts…" Harry relayed tiredly.

Hermione noted his visibly waning strength. "Come on Harry let me put the salve on your wound," she chastised.

He shook his head firmly. "Not right now Hermione, just let me do it, we should be getting a move on, who knows how much time we have." She hesitated, so he explained a bit more. "I managed to wrangle some wards for your parents from Bones. Nothing that will stop Voldemort himself if he shows I'm afraid, but enough to protect them from his goons until help arrives. However they're not going in until tomorrow at the earliest, so it'd be best if we hit the road sooner rather than later."

Emma and Dan for their part shared a silent look, the kind of near telepathic communications that only people who had lived together for years managed. It was Emma who broke the silence. "Any chance we could come with you two for the night?" She didn't relish being in an unprotected home so soon after a major battle with terrorists.

Harry saw Hermione's pleading look, but it wasn't necessary, he nodded readily. "No problem, it'd probably be a good idea just in case."

Dan pushed to his feet and jerked his head towards the door. "I'll just get the Cruiser ready…" he murmured before stalking out of the room.

Emma nodded, and smiled thinly at them, clearly more worried than angry now. "I'll pack the overnight bags."

Hermione grudgingly handed over the ointment when Harry held out his hand for it. He looked into her eyes seriously. "You're going to want to grab everything you want to bring 'Mione, we won't be coming back here."

She smirked and gave him a pointed look. "Mione?" she asked archly.

He had the grace to look chagrined. "Sorry."

She shrugged. "It's fine. I know when you say it, you mean it as a term of endearment."

Harry cocked his head. "And Ron doesn't?"

She rolled her eyes in disgust. "No, he uses it when he's trying to wheedle something out of me - like my latest essay - or when he's too darn lazy to say my name properly," she grumbled irritably.

"Ah," Harry noted articulately.

She considered him for a moment. Looking to change the subject she said, "Do we have a plan? Did you at least manage to get the Trace removed in all this?" She looked hopeful.

Harry sighed and shook his head. "No plan beyond tonight really. I'll tell you about the Trace later okay. You should really…"

"Go get packed," She finished nodding agreement. "Okay see you in a few minutes."

She turned and left, but Harry waited a couple minutes before easing his shirt up and lathering the wound with some of the ointment. It was definitely not as good as a potion, or one of Madam Pomfrey's many and varied curatives, but at least it numbed things a bit which was more than he had hoped for from muggle medicine. It could be worse.

—-

Hermione for her part had retreated to her room to begin packing. Unlike Harry who had packed only the bare necessities when he departed Privet Drive, Hermione had packed basically everything she could foresee them possibly needing. Which - considering Hermione's intelligence - the list included basically everything and the kitchen sink. Thankfully her school trunk had an expansion charm to allow for more storage space, currently mostly filled with books.

She paused part way through packing away a pair of books on Arithmancy, and glanced at Hedwig. She'd need to pack what they needed to bring their animals with them. She knew that in theory Harry and her would be better off without hauling their familiars with them. But there were potential benefits as well, if only to their peace of mind.

"Hedwig, do you think you can follow us to the hotel? It might be a ways..." The look she got back from the owl was what could only be described as scathing, prompting her to remind herself that this was a magically enhanced bird capable of flying from one end of Great Britain to the other without stopping. She paused to consider that, just how far could a post owl like Hedwig, with all the magical enhancements fly without needing to stop? After all, Sirius had once sent letters with various tropical birds typically zoned for the Caribbean. That was a lot of open water to fly over…

Her train of thought was interrupted by a knock at the door. Her mother was waiting in the doorway expectantly holding the house's first aid kit. "Do you think I should bring the kit so we can treat his burns wherever we're going?" Emma asked uncertainly.

Hermione chuckled as she fought the Monster Book of Monsters into its muzzle before stuffing it in the trunk, she had less…volatile books on the topic, but sadly not many of them were as comprehensive. Hagrid swore all one needed to do was stroke the spine; well her copy had long ago decided that it would not be pacified by platitudes. She swore she heard it trying to plot her murder with the other more mundane books now and again. "It can't hurt. Not with the way Harry accumulates injuries. Knowing him, he'll get attacked by a rabid badger or a rogue bludger on his way into the hotel." Judging by her mother's expression Emma was uncertain whether or not to take that last bit seriously.

Her mother nodded and tucked the kit under her arm but did not move to leave. "Do you have a moment to talk?" Emma asked tentatively.

Hermione spared her mother an exasperated look. "Is now really the time for this?" she asked stuffing some packets of cat chow into a spare space along one side.

Emma matched her expression with one of her own. "When else are we going to have the chance… and seriously how do you expect to get a biting book through security if you leave the country?" she asked dubiously.

"The books have notice-me-not and muggle repelling charms all over them, they won't notice a thing." Hermione noted. "The only reason you two notice is because you're family of the owner."

Emma nodded and just waited for Hermione to get back on track. Eventually her daughter waved her permission with a sigh. Emma steeled herself to ask the question which had been eating at her all night. "Does he know how you feel about him?" Hermione froze, and Emma could see the gears ticking over as her daughter fought to compose a denial. She decided to cut her off at the pass. "Don't deny it, I've had years to learn to read other women, and you in particular. I'm not blind you know."

Hermione stiffened before sagging in defeat, shaking her head and staring at her hands where they rested on the edge of the trunk. "No mum, he doesn't," she murmured quietly.

Emma cocked her head. "Why not?"

Hermione pursed her lips and shot her mother a withering look. "Because I haven't told him, and I have no intention of changing that. Because he doesn't see me that way. And because I have no desire to put myself out there just to get my heart broken or risk losing my best friend." She shook her head sharply. "No, I've buried that dream. It was a nice one: the girl gets together with her best friend and they live happily ever after right? But no, it's not going to happen…" she said firmly, trying to convince herself as much as anything. It wasn't the only reason for her hesitation, but it was the only one she was going to give to her mother.

Emma considered her, a touch of a waiver had entered her daughter's voice, a touch of bitterness. "Are you sure about all that?"

Hermione nodded tightly. "As sure as I can be," she agreed.

Her mother smiled thinly. "I think you've misread the situation with him." This was met with another silence, as Hermione fought to stamp out the traitorous little spark of hope that threatened to glow in response to that notion. Her mother continued after a moment, "Have you considered that he may be no more certain of things than you are?"

Hermione's brow furrowed at that. "What do you mean?"

Emma rolled her eyes. "Correct me if I'm wrong but your friend doesn't strike me as a ladies man. Does he have lots of girlfriends, tawdry affairs and liaisons?"

Hermione could only snort in grudging amusement at her mother's cajoling tone. "No, he's certainly not that. He's only had a single date and it was a disaster." She said, recalling Harry's abortive outing with Cho. Despite herself she couldn't bring herself to feel sorry that it hadn't worked out. Not very kind, but there it was.

Emma nodded knowingly. "Then he, like most boys his age, is still at the phase in which he's clueless when it comes to the opposite sex. Honestly most young men are as thick as a brick sandwich when it comes to such things. I'm sure Harry is a little behind that curve considering he has to worry more about just staying alive…" She noted her daughters skeptical expression and pressed on. "My point is, he just might be as afraid to show his feelings on the matter as you are."

Hermione sighed rubbing the bridge of her nose wearily. "Mum, what is the point in all of this? You don't even want me having anything to do with him. I believe you made that abundantly clear when we discussed this whole problem earlier."

Her mother nodded. "For your safety, I still don't," she admitted. "But since you have made it abundantly clear that you fully intend to ignore me in that regard, that issue falls by the wayside. I do however want you to be happy, so I'll give you a piece of advice despite my better judgement." She explained patiently. "If you really do have feelings for him, and want to know if they could be reciprocated…" She opened her hands expectantly. "Tell him how you feel. Be plain about it, let him know, because I promise you if he's half as shy as I think he is, he's not going to figure it out all on his own. Not with someone as restrained and circumspect as you." She noted her daughters dubiously pensive expression, and nodded in satisfaction. "There, end of advice. Now, let's get everything packed into the truck."

Hermione had to shake her head to clear it of the ideas raised by her mother. She had to pack them away, because for now, she didn't really have time to consider that in depth. They needed to get moving.

—-

Madam Bones spent the first couple hours at the Ministry digging through public records with her niece's help simply trying to corroborate as many of Harry's notations as she could while waiting for reports and autopsy results from the attack. This was, as much as anything else, a way for her to keep her niece occupied until the shock had passed.

Thus far her search had turned up nothing but confirmations of what Harry had implied had happened. Dumbledore had been chronically mismanaging countless facets of his responsibilities for decades now. The extent of the fumbling was difficult to determine, as was just how much of it may have been intentional. If even a quarter of it was by design, there was a very real possibility she might need to bring the man up on charges. She had, as Susan began to fade, returned herself and her niece to her office and begun collating what they had found.

It was well after midnight when there was a knock at the door. She nodded to Susan who shifted herself out of the line of fire, and placed her hand wand below the edge of the desk. She then cleared her throat and called out, "Come."

The door had opened and her secretary peered into the office nervously. "Uh—hello Director, an Auror Tonks is here to speak with you?" Considering the foul evening/night Amelia had experienced thus far, it was not surprising the administrative aide was so cautious.

Amelia nodded, and gestured her acquiescence. "Show her in."

The secretary ducked out and was almost immediately replaced by Tonks, who stepped tiredly into the office. Tonks had changed much over the last month or so, and not for the better. Nymphadora Tonks, a woman who would eviscerate you for daring to use said first name, was usually flamboyant, excitable and dogged in her duty. If a little bit lax in the uniform regulation area. Usually sporting clothing more suited for a muggle teenager with a short bubblegum pink, or purple haircut. Now she looked…aged in a way clearly not healthy to the young woman's psyche. Her hair had faded to a dull mousy brown which hung limply to just above her shoulders. She had her uniform trench coat on at least, but the clothing under it, a dull greyish blouse and a dark pair of slacks were…boring.

Judging by Harry's revelations, Amelia believed she had the beginnings of a reason why this might be the case with the young Auror. But that was an issue for a bit later. Damn Dumbledore and his Order anyways. "Report Auror Tonks?" She gestured Susan out of the room and the girl scurried out - she had instructions not to wander far. It still wasn't safe as far as Amelia was concerned.

Tonks nodded, watching the teen leave before starting in. "Yes ma'am. As ordered I took a squad down to magical transportation's floo department. We began auditing and investigating the place as well as immediately quarantining the staff on duty at the time. The place is a bloody mess ma'am, I have no idea how they get anything done in there," she noted.

The Director just nodded thoughtfully, at least thus far Tonks was still thorough, who knew how long that would last though? "Any leads thus far?"

"One of the staff was missing on coffee break for an hour around the time in question, but he turned up having some late night nookie with one of the junior undersecretary's aides. Both have been issued with official warnings, but no, nothing that's indicative as yet ma'am."

Amelia shook her head, this could take a while if that office was as disorganized as Tonks suggested. "Very well."

Tonks stood expectantly for a minute before shifting impatiently. "If there's nothing else ma'am, I really had better return to…"

Amelia decided now was the time to air some issues out in the open. This problem with Dumbledore was clearly beginning to affect the efficiency of some of her best people and it needed to stop. She had just gotten her feet under her to work on bringing the Ministry up to war footing, she didn't need her best crippled. "Actually there is something we need to discuss Auror Tonks…"

"Yes ma'am?"

"Your conduct lately has been….irregular Tonks, and I think I know why," Amelia explained carefully.

Tonks rolled her eyes. "Contrary to what those gossips out in dispatch say ma'am me and Dawlish haven't got any sort of illicit affair ma'am. I don't know what they…"

Amelia stopped her with an uplifted hand. "No, that's not what I—Dawlish?" Tonks nodded sourly. "What are they stupid?"

Tonks smirked a bit before smiling a touch wanly. "That's what I've been asking ma'am."

Amelia shook that off. "No. I was not going to refer to any alleged illicit relationship between yourself and another staff member," she said pointedly. "I was referring to your membership in the illegal militia group known as the Order of the Phoenix." Tonks' eyes widened almost comically - Amelia was reasonably sure that it was not the effect of any of the woman's metamorphic abilities.

She pressed on. "I shouldn't need to remind you of this but I'll do it anyways as it is beginning to affect your duties. It is well outside the bounds of professional conduct for you to even consider taking part in operations with such a group. The only reason I'm willing to overlook your membership with them up to this point is simple: up until now the Auror Corps has not been actively engaged against the terrorist leader known as V-Voldemort, nor his organization the Death Eaters. Now that that has changed there is no room for division, no time for doubts or divided loyalties. I assume you joined out of a desire to protect people?" she asked, Tonks nodded mutely.

Amelia shook her head. "Regardless, the point is that you now find yourself at a crossroads Auror Tonks. The Auror Corps needs it's best - yes I am including you in that category - but you've become distracted by your service to the Order. You can either continue to serve the rightful and duly appointed law enforcement agencies of the Ministry, or you can hand in you badge and run off to play soldier for Dumbledore. Doing both is no longer an option, not in the current environment. Things are different now, we're finally being let off the leash to do what we signed up for." She cocked her head expectantly at the young woman. "Do I make myself clear?"

Tonks nodded stiffly coming to a semblance of attention. "Yes ma'am."

Amelia nodded slowly in return not taking her eyes from the Auror's. "Good. Oh, and by the way, when you next see Aurors Jones and Shacklebolt tell them to come meet me in my office I have the same ultimatum for them."

Tonks nodded jerkily, more than a little unnerved how casually the Director was dropping what were intended to be Order secrets. The Director clearly had more secrets to throw around, judging by her expression. "Yes ma'am I'll tell them..I'll—" She was cut off by her wand emitting a flash of light and a warbling note. Amelia laced her fingers together and leaned forward on the desk expectantly. Tonks gave her a panicky and embarrassed expression clearly revealing just who it was that was sending her a messenger spell. Tonks cleared her throat and stepped a pace back from her desk. "I'll uh—do you want me to head in right now and resign? Or—" She trailed off uncertainly.

"That would be appreciated. I'll divert Irons to handle the investigation until you return at the beginning of next shift. And please, while you're there would you mind terribly telling Albus I don't appreciate him highjacking my people for his latest crusade? Next time I catch someone answering to him instead of the agency they swore an oath to, I'll have them in chains."

Tonks paled somewhat before her abilities brought it under control. "Yes ma'am. Sorry ma'am," she murmured hurriedly before backing from the room.

Amelia sighed, under better circumstances she might have been able to risk allowing the Order to continue its work unhindered. But sadly these were not ideal circumstances, she could hardly trust anyone not to be in league with the enemy. She didn't need those she did trust holding onto some senile old man's coat tales for guidance.

—-

Harry sat, somewhat stiffly, propped up against the door of the Granger's Land Cruiser. Why Dan Granger, a quintessential suburbanite felt the need to own a vehicle suited to traversing all but the harshest terrain was a mystery to his family, and possibly even to himself. However on nights like tonight when a person needed to pack up a large amount of luggage and move it quickly from one point to another the vehicle came in handy.

They had traveled for quite a while in relative silence before Hermione remembered there was a topic she wished to cover with him before he was too tired to discuss it. "So Harry, what was it you were going to tell me about the Trace? You said you were going to tell me a bit later…"

Harry had to jog his somewhat drowsy mind to remember just what it was she was talking about. "Oh, yeah, that…" He shrugged. "Well that comes tinged with a bit of irony really. It turns out I needn't have gone to Madam Bones today in the first place." He admitted.

She crinkled her brow in confusion. "Why? Did she end up refusing to help you?"

He shook his head. "No no, she was more than willing to help me. It's just that she ended up informing me that the Trace is a basically a myth. Because of 'budget cuts'." He said this last with air quotes.

Hermione's eyes widened. "What?" she demanded.

Harry nodded, bouncing his head a bit against the window of the door. "The Trace tracks locations, nowadays, because somebody was looking to cut costs. At least that's the official line the Ministry touts on it. I got the impressions the pure bloods pushed for it."

"But—that makes no sense!" she protested.

Harry gave her a lopsided grin. "Since when has that stopped the Ministry from doing something?" Hermione made a face at that so he continued. "The way it was explained to me, is that the Trace is only put in place on non-magical households now a days. Or in the case of Privet Drive which lacked any other Magicals for miles, the household and the general area surrounding it. This means the Trace is in effect only placed on the homes of muggleborns and muggle raised kids like you and me."

The gears were turning furiously in Hermione's head and she didn't like the conclusions they were churning out. "But not on Magical Homes…"

Harry shook his head. "Nope, near as I can tell it turns out they won't pay the costs associated with differentiating between adults and kids at such places so they leave it to the parents to police the use of magic in their homes." He held up a hand to forestall her protest. "Yes, that basically means that pukes like Malfoy can practice magic all summer long without consequence. Yeah it sucks." He noted with exasperation the raw irrationality of the way the British Ministry handled many of its affairs.

"But that's so…biased! And totally unfair!" She protested.

Harry just hummed his agreement, before nodding. "Yeah, me and you could both use magic right this minute and nobody would say anything about it."

She raked her hand through her hair irritably. "That's infuriating!"

Harry snorted. "Yeah, tell me about it. Take it from someone who's been tagged twice by the ministry for underage magic right?"

She blushed realizing that he had more reason to be upset than she did and yet remained calm. "Sorry, Harry, I know, it's just so…frustrating how much is broken in magical Britain." She noted as the Land Cruiser pulled into a hotel parking lot. It was quiet at this time of night, only the occasional shuttle bus from the nearby airport stopped through at this time of night.

Hermione ended up having to help Harry's now thoroughly stiff and gibbled up self out of the vehicle before helping him make his way inside.

—-

For the first time in her memory Tonks approached the Burrow with apprehension. The usually homey and welcoming…house, was generally a sight for sore eyes after a hard day's work. The Weasley family stronghold, if such a ramshackle estate could be called such.

In the time since the Order had abandoned Grimmauld place, as it was no longer secure following Sirius' death, the Burrow had become a sort of de facto headquarters. Which meant it was the dead last place she wanted to be following Amelia's ultimatum. However, in keeping with said ultimatum, it was exactly the place she needed to be.

It was this nervous attitude which caused Tonks to practically hit the roof when her friend grabbed her by the shoulder. "Whoa, everything alright Tonks?" Hestia Jones asked startled by her friend's over reaction. "Holy hell, you're jumpy tonight! What's with you?"

Tonks shrugged and smiled ruefully at her friend and coworker. "I'll-uh. I'll tell you about it a bit later yeah?"

Hestia just shrugged before moving around the table of the Burrow's large kitchen, sitting herself down and helping herself to a cup of coffee Molly had supplied for the emergency meeting.

It took a while for the majority of the Order to arrive and the meeting only started after Dumbledore showed up with McGonagall in tow. "Greetings everyone. We call this meeting of the Order of the Phoenix to order," he said solemnly, eyes twinkling a thousand miles per hour and a small smile on his weathered face. "In case there are those among you who were as yet unaware, the residence of Amelia Bones was attacked earlier tonight by Voldemort himself along with a band of Death Eaters." Many of the more expressive members of the order such as their host Molly Weasley offered stifled screams at hearing the Dark Lord's name. The muttering which followed was grim.

"It is therefore my profound pleasure and relief to report that Voldemort was forced to retreat when his allies were defeated and Auror reinforcements arrived on site." He tilted his head deferentially to Tonks and the other Aurors. A show of support which now failed to comfort Tonks, instead making her uncomfortable, itching to leave her seat at the table.

Molly voiced the question clearly percolating through the group. "She managed to hold them off that long, alone?" she asked sounding both skeptical and impressed.

Dumbledore shook his head. "Ah, no. She did in fact have assistance, Emmeline Vance who was scheduled to begin her patrol routine there, also lent aid during the battle, as well as an Auror and Amelia's own niece Susan."

Remus perked up, "Emmeline was there was she? Is she okay?"

Tonks couldn't help but feel a touch bitter at the interest in his voice, even if it was totally platonic. She'd been attempting to catch the wolf's attention for months now, and his rejection had hurt a great deal.

Dumbledore nodded. "She is currently in intensive care at Saint Mungo's. I have stationed Alastor to watch over her while she heals." He noted a touch sombrely.

Arthur snorted, before offering a thin smile. "Still, it's impressive. I wonder if any of us could manage the same?"

Hestia cocked her head to the side and considered, she'd seen the level of destruction in that house first hand. "Do we know how she managed it?" She asked curiously. That was one thing that you could always count on with Hestia, she was always eager to learn a new trick, a new maneuver for a fight.

The aged headmaster shook his head. "No—sadly not at this time, she has agreed to meet with me at a later date however. Perhaps that shall offer some illumination?" he speculated.

"Speaking of illumination, I believe I may be able to shed some light on this." Drawled an unfortunately familiar voice as Snape, the Hogwarts Potion Master and double agent against Voldemort swept in, cloak billowing behind him. Tonks had to credit the man with his ability to make a stylish entrance though. She wondered how he got that cloak to billow like that.

He paused briefly as he came to a halt at the table edge. "It seems that Amelia had additional assistance in her defence that we were not aware of. She was aided by one who is singularly infuriating to the Dark Lord."

Dumbledore appeared intrigued and the rest waited in anticipation for the identity of the mystery defender. "Who Severus?"

Snape smirked somewhat. "Harry Potter of course."

This was met with an outcry as shock and disbelief gripped the table. "What!?" shrieked Molly. Tonks rolled her eyes, for a woman who insisted Order business should be kept from her family Molly was a master of raising the decibel level of these meetings.

Albus was suddenly urgent, all remnants of the grandfatherly persona he favoured gone from his visage. "Severus are you certain?"

Snape nodded calmly. "Yes, the Dark Lord was quite vexed and took it out on one of my fellows before coming to the conclusion it was merely an…intriguing coincidence rather than any cunning or reckless design by the boy," he noted dryly.

"Is there any indication that this was why he attacked Madam Bones last night?" Albus asked his eyes focused on the potions master's sallow face.

Snape merely shook his head. "No, he truly had intended to kill her. A fact he had concealed from the rest of us...perhaps desiring to keep the kill for himself? Regardless, it appears that Potter was merely there by…chance and intervened, to the Dark Lord's detriment."

Suddenly some things clicked in Tonks' mind and she sighed explosively. "If that's true it might explain some things," she sighed.

Dumbledore's eyes were on her now. "Such as?"

"Such as why Dung has not reported any activity at all from him today or yesterday…" she grumbled. "Such as Amelia calling me into her office tonight and giving me an ultimatum: resign from the Order or turn in my badge. Which brings me to my next order of business." She grumbled irritably as she pushed to her feet. She herself was unaware that for the first time in days her hair had shifted colour, albeit briefly before returning to mousy brown. "I'm sorry Dumbledore, but I'm afraid I have to turn in my resignation; I can no longer be with the Order."

Molly puffed herself up. "I can not believe that Harry would tell Amelia that…" she protested. Tonks shrugged, it made little difference to her.

"Regardless me, Hestia and Shack are all facing the same choice: the Order or our jobs." She looked apologetically to those gathered. "Sorry guys, I'm out."

Hestia looked stricken and Shacklebolt looked worried. Dumbledore meanwhile had adopted a friendly cajoling attitude. "Nymphadora…"

Tonks stiffened, she was not in the mood for more of Dumbledore's typical behaviour in regards to her. "Dumbledore, I believe I've made my position quite clear when it comes to my name?" she growled, glaring at the old man, who was blocking her exit.

The man nodded readily appearing contrite. "Yes, and you have my apologies. But surely Tonks you see the—"

She cut him off before he could get his feet under him. "No, Dumbledore, stop right there. I joined up to fight bad guys and protect people. The Ministry now fills that role too and I'll lose the job I have pursued my whole life up until now if I don't resign. I'd better say goodnight to you now and hit the road. Good luck you lot," she noted bowing her head slightly.

She heard a chair scrape and Hestia stood. "I'm afraid I'm gonna have to do the same Headmaster, I'm sorry." She hurried to catch up with Tonks.

Dumbledore turned pleadingly to Kingsley. Shacklebolt held up a hand to forestall him. "I'll need to think on some things and speak with Amelia first, Albus. I'll let you know."

Hestia caught up with Tonks as she was exiting through the front door, struggling to pull on a boot before leaving the premises. Hopefully not for the last time - regardless of affiliation with the Order she was fond of the Weasleys. "Just how bad is it Tonks?" Hestia asked in a hush. "How mad is Bones?"

"About the attack tonight or us being with the Order?" Tonks asked, then let out an oof as she fell on her backside while struggling with the boot. Hestia was kind enough to ignore it without snickering.

"Either, both?" Hestia suggested uncertainly.

Tonks rolled her shoulders as she got to her feet again. "In regards to the attack I think Bones is so far beyond pissed she's gone through it all the way into that dangerous calm on the other side. Or maybe she's just too tired to shout; it's not always easy to tell," she admitted quirking a weak smile. "Who can blame her right? Having to throw down against You-Know-Who? As to the Order things?" She shrugged. "She was perfectly reasonable with me, but left me with no doubt as to what choices I faced. She was right to call me on it."

Hestia blew out a breath as they began walking down the drive towards the edge of the wards. "Guess she was lucky Harry was there eh?"

Tonks considered that, "You know, I can't decide whether or not to blessing or cursing Harry right now," she admitted.

Hestia glanced at her. "You think he really sold us out to Bones?"

It was Tonks' turn to blow out an uncertain breath kicking at the gravel beneath her feet. "I don't know."

Jones appeared to consider that then shrugged philosophically. "It could be worse I suppose," she allowed.

Tonks' raised a skeptical eyebrow at her friend. "How so?"

"Well, of all the people he could have risked telling, Bones is perhaps the only one I could stomach. Can you imagine if he'd blabbed to Fudge?" She mocked shivered.

Tonks reluctantly conceded the point. "True enough I suppose," she agreed.

"Do you think she's right? Telling us we need to support the DMLE over the Order?" Hestia asked eventually. They were past the ward line now, but they needed to talk.

"Probably. Doesn't mean it doesn't sting a bit to realize what a mistake we made. We're the line between order and chaos, we're not supposed to run around with secret societies," Tonks noted grumpily, irritated with herself more than anything.

"Do you think we were doing the right thing when we joined up?" Hestia ventured.

Tonks sighed and rubbed her face. "I think—I think we were doing the only thing we could do under the circumstances back then. Now though? I don't know, now the Ministry's finally involved…" She didn't need to finish that statement, the meaning was clear enough on it's own. "The Old Man means well I'm sure, of that I have no doubt, but…"

They walked in silence for a time just enjoying the cool predawn air. Clearly the issue was still bothering Hestia though. "Do you think Harry told her?"

Tonks eventually nodded her head. "Yeah, I kinda think he did."

"Why would he do that?" the other witch wondered aloud.

Tonks shrugged. "Don't know, could be a whole boatload of reasons for it," she argued.

Hestia looked worried. "Do you think he blames us for Sirius?" she wondered.

Tonks scrunched up her face, she missed that old mutt. "It's possible."

"Do you think he'll show at the will?"

Tonks grimaced. "Doubt it. Assuming he even knows about it, which frankly knowing Dumbledore, I doubt. He'd have to be eight different kinds of crazy to try and visit with Dumbledore there."

The silence fell again and they walked perhaps half a kilometre together before Hestia spoke again. "Are you feeling alright Tonks? It's just—you've not been yourself lately…" her friend ventured delicately.

Tonks fought the urge to roll her eyes in exasperation, she hated talking about feelings. They were too…girly. "My abilities are tied to my emotions. Needless to say the last few weeks have really sucked."

Hestia nodded rapidly. "Amen to that." She glanced at Tonks. "You bummed about Sirius? or is it the other thing we talked about?" she asked.

Tonks winced. She'd confided her interest in Remus to Hestia -she'd therefore witnessed the big old ball of suck that was the aftermath of his rejection. "Probably both" Tonks admitted sourly.

Hestia snorted, and resorted to an age old truth. "It never rains but it pours right?" Tonks nodded agreement. Things never seemed to go wrong in isolation from each other, they always went wrong all at once. She cocked her head as she pondered something. "You know it was really odd wasn't it?"

"What was?"

Hestia looked at her seriously. "Snape, when he showed up."

"How so?" Tonks asked furrowing her brow.

"Well, normally anything happens with Harry and he's slagging the boy off. This time he didn't. He just reported what he knew and left the rest of us to figure it out. I mean knowing the greasy old bat you'd think he'd be muttering about Harry doing it all for the attention or some such nonsense. You figure something finally changed his mind about Harry?"

Tonks just about laughed at the absurdity of that comment. "I doubt it. Whatever it is between those two, they hate each other's guts with an unholy passion."

Hestia grumbled good naturedly. "I don't know if that's comforting or not."

—-

Harry settled himself heavily on the edge of the bed in the room Dan and Emma had rented for him. The thing about pain was that it didn't merely dull your mind and impede movement, it sapped your strength. Harry was downright exhausted, and it wasn't just from lack of sleep. Hermione didn't wait long before starting in again. "Honestly Harry, you've been favouring your side ever since you got back. The salve clearly hasn't worked so lets see it, and I'll grab what we need to fix you up."

"It's alright Hermione, burns just hurt more than most wounds," Harry argued.

She was losing patience with his stalling and evasion. "Harry, just—just show me the wound alright?" she said, clearly biting back on her exasperation. Her patience was clearly fraying rapidly, and he saw no purpose in continuing to be stubborn about this.

He sighed explosively. "Fine, hang on." He reached across delicately and pulled up the edge of his thoroughly ruined shirt.

Hermione hunkered down on her haunches to examine it more closely, before leaning over and pulling a sterile wipe from the first aid kit. He hissed when it began to irritate the edges of the wound as she wiped away some of the dried blood. She bit her lip as she considered the wound as dispassionately as she could. "I'm surprised this didn't burn through your shirt…or melt it to you skin."

Harry shrugged as much as his wound would allow. "Well it was a cutting spell right? I call it a burn, but it's more like a wake from the spell then a fire," he noted.

She bobbled her head noncommittally. "Plenty of things can cause burns Harry, not just fire you know." She noted his quizzical expression. "Liquid nitrogen can burn you even though it's absurdly cold. But in this case what we're dealing with is more akin to a radiation burn from the spells wake, think of it like a sunburn. The raw energy bleed off from the cutting spell."

Harry grimaced. "Radiation, great…"

She smirked. "It's not like nuclear or solar radiation, but it's still enough to scorch you." She noted gripping his side carefully and peering more closely at the wound. "I think we'll need to prepare a poultice for this one, then we'll secure it to your side with a wrap," she decided, she pushed to her feet and crossed to the door between the two rooms and knocked. It was only a moment or two before her mother opened it. "Hey, Mum, can you help me apply a poultice to Harry's burn?"

Emma nodded shortly. "Sure, just a moment." She ducked into her own room for a minute before returning and rifling through the first aid kit. It was larger and more well stocked than most he had seen. It took a few minutes to prepare the poultice from the supplies in the kit. Hermione explained and named each of the materials they planned on using while they worked. Eventually it was time to actually apply it.

"Harry, you're going to need to take off your shirt so we can secure this to your side properly.

Harry hesitated. "Is that really necessary? Where'd you learn all this anyways?"

She rolled her eyes. "I took some training over the summers, and paid attention when Madam Pomfrey was talking after your…accidents. And yes, it is necessary," she argued firmly.

Harry grinned nervously. "What? You don't think your parents have been shocked enough as it is?" He teased weakly, this only seemed to confuse her.

It was Emma who spoke up, "I assure you Harry I've seen just about everything a person can see over the years. I may specialize in teeth, but I'm a medical professional remember?"

Harry sighed in defeat, before grabbing the edge of his shirt and pulling it over his head. Sure enough he heard the hiss of indrawn breath from Hermione and Emma. What they were seeing was in short: scars. Many, many scars of varying sizes and shapes all across his torso and back. "How did you get all these Harry?" Hermione breathed, her eyes skating about his form as she took it in.

Harry pointed to a selection of them in turn. "Dragon, Basilisk, various vicious creatures, duels with Death Eaters, my relatives and my aunt's damn dog Ripper who just loved chewing on me."

Hermione felt physically ill. "Your relatives did this to you?" He shrugged, seemingly nonchalant about what were in essence the signs of extensive, repeated and methodical abuse. She shook her head. "Harry…this is really bad."

"I know, but I'm away from them now right? No sense dwelling," he argued stoically.

Hermione couldn't believe he could be so blasé about it, but for the time being conceded the point. She handed him the poultice. "Here, hold this to the wound and we'll get you bound up." Harry nodded amicably and complied, holding the somewhat soggy mess to his wound as Hermione and Emma worked to wrap him in gauze and pressor strips.

Harry chuckled to himself. "I'll say this for Madam Pomfrey and her horrendous potions, they're quick. Even if they taste like battery acid," he noted sardonically.

Hermione sniffed. "Yes, well it's not like we have access to a lot of potions right now is it?" She noted, uncertain whether or not this was a comment on the skill of her ministrations.

Harry shrugged. "Still, it's impressive what non-magical folks manage without magic and such to help them along," he noted speculatively. "Remember when they tried stitching Mr. Weasley's wound last year? Molly looked like they'd grown another head for even suggesting it," he noted laughing to himself at the memory.

Hermione nodded. "I'm pretty sure that the stitching came apart like that because they didn't use the right kind of threading or sterilization. It basically rotted off."

"Doesn't matter now I guess. Molly won't tolerate them trying anything muggle on her family ever again…" Harry pointed out. "Sometimes—I swear, magicals in general are the most biased, bigoted group on the face of the planet."

Hermione nodded seriously. "You won't get any argument from me."

Emma had been listening to this with interest as she secured the last bandage. "Magicals have a problem with muggles?" she asked.

Harry nodded, "Well, let me put it like this. Regardless of the fact that Hermione has the best grades of anyone I know, she will be forced to fight tooth and nail for the good jobs just because she wasn't born a pureblood." He noted her sour expression, "Most Purebloods look on anyone who isn't one of them as lesser beings. Even the good ones like the Weasleys look down on them a bit. Mr. Weasley approaches studying muggles as a sort of eccentric hobby, and his job in the Ministry is as a 'muggle expert'."

Emma looked at her daughter dubiously. "And you put up with that year round?"

Hermione shrugged, it was a reality she was largely becoming used to at this point. "I hope to change things one day. Besides, magic isn't without it's perks, even when it comes with its costs too," she noted as she helped Harry pull his shirt back on.

"So what do you intend to do now?" Emma asked.

"You mean besides get a good night sleep?" Harry joked, then sobered when he saw she was clearly not in the mood for joking. "I was planning on discussing that with Hermione in the morning, but I suppose talking about it now won't hurt. Let it percolate over night. I was thinking we need to hole up somewhere and study, maybe take the opportunity to just enjoy ourselves now and then when we're not up to our eyeballs in spell work." He shrugged. "Keep an eye on how things develop and then decide a new course of action from there. Way I reckon, one way or another there's going to be enough studying to make even Hermione desperate for a break soon enough."

Emma seemed perplexed. "So this is going to be, what, a holiday?"

Harry snorted derisively, "No, like I said, mostly we'll be studying, just somewhere out of the way. I don't see the point of burning Hermione and myself out right away either though, so taking the occasional break now and then couldn't hurt, even if it's just to see the sights wherever we end up."

Hermione was thinking that over. "Do you have any ideas about where we could go?"

Harry's eyes flicked to Emma apologetically. "No offence to your mum, but I don't want Dumbledore rummaging through her thoughts to see this conversation. Eventually they'll figure out you went missing at the same time as I did and check with your family."

Emma was justifiably unnerved by that. "He'd do that?"

Harry grimaced. "He does it all the time with school children, so…yeah, he definitely would if it suited him," he agreed then turned to Hermione. "Short of it is yes, I have a couple ideas of where we could go."

Emma understood his position in this instance. "Then I'll leave you two to it and let you figure out your next move," she said dusting off her knees and getting to her feet. She picked up the bag and packed it before making her way to the other room and closing the door behind her.

Hermione sat on the bed next to him. "So what are we going to be waiting for precisely?"

"Madam Bones mentioned that she might be willing to give me Ministry support assuming she gets elected to replace Fudge. If that's the case we might be returning soon enough and shouldn't get bogged down in whatever else we're doing out there," Harry noted easily.

"Where were you thinking we could go?" She asked, casting about for something else to talk about.

"I've got a couple family properties which have apparently been going unused. According to Gringotts the lot of them are Unplottable. I've discounted the locations in the British Isles; way I reckon it Dumbledore is far too likely to know where those are and look there first," he noted. "But that just leaves two others - apparently my parents inherited them from my Grandparents. A small house in the Sandwich Islands, wherever that is, and a small cabin in Canada somewhere."

"The Sandwich Islands is just another name for the Hawaiian Island Chain," Hermione noted absently, considering those options.

"Do we know if there's any Magicals in those areas? I mean specifically - I know Canada has Witches and Wizards…" Harry noted, thinking of a couple international Quidditch teams he knew about.

Hermione waved her hand airily. "Of course there are Harry, you'll find Magicals just about everywhere you find muggles. There's bound to be major magical sites in most large cities. It's just a matter of finding them."

"Guess I should have made a point to look them up while I was in Diagon," Harry noted a touch ruefully.

"No need, I have a book or two detailing Wizarding tourist destinations around the world," she noted pointing in the general direction of her trunk in the other room.

Harry chuckled fondly. "Somehow that doesn't surprise me."

Hermione had spaced out a bit during the conversation. "Do you think this is the right thing to do? Finding somewhere to hole up I mean? Would it be better to keep moving instead?" she wondered aloud. "I suppose it's our personal habits more than anything which will determine whether or not Dumbledore or anyone else can find us," she speculated. Harry lay back while she sat in silence thinking. She eventually shook herself out of it a few minutes later.

Seeing she had returned to the land of the awake and aware, Harry returned to the topic at hand. "So which one do you want to hit up?"

She considered for a few minutes frowning, drumming her finger on her leg. "I think…" she began hesitantly. "I think this plan needs a bit more work," she offered apologetically.

Harry watched her for a moment before nodding agreeably. He had after all always known the plan thus far was short term at best. "I can agree with that. What were you thinking?" he asked.

She chewed her lip idly. "We can't just run off into the sunset hoping we'll find someone to teach us what we need to know," she asserted. "We need someone to teach us, or this is all pointless."

He rocked his head tiredly back and forth on his shoulders. "I agree I guess, but who could we really ask?" he pointed out. "I mean, the few people I trust besides you to not try and kill us would tell Dumbledore where we were in a heartbeat. Anyone else…" he trailed off.

She wagged her finger at him. "Just because someone has not sided with Dumbledore doesn't mean they are inherently untrustworthy. Take a look at me and you, or Madam Bones? We could ask her couldn't we? Maybe she can find someone?" She suggested hopefully, nodding her head as she warmed to the idea. "And then there are plenty of people who work for places like Gringotts, whose loyalty isn't to the Ministry or anyone except the bank," she noted.

She gave a slight start when Harry gave a wry chuckle. "Yes, and if there's one thing you can say about Goblins, they would never willingly do something to help Voldemort," he noted. He paused mulling that over. "Yes…we could talk with them in the morning perhaps?" He then smiled at her at touch ruefully. "I still think we should get out of town for a while. Where do you want to go?"

Hermione chuckled, likely understanding why Harry had to wait before voicing that question. "Well I think we really need to know more, but I hear Canada is nice, and I've always wanted to visit Hawaii," she said, smiling a touch cheekily.

"I wonder how hard it will be to get a plane ticket on short notice?" Harry wondered aloud, it wasn't like he'd traveled a lot in the past. "A shame we don't have the flying car or something…"

Hermione smiled fondly in recollection. "Do you even have a passport?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah—I know shocked me too," Harry noted laughing a bit at Hermione's surprise. "The Dursleys took me in to get it. I assumed it was probably because they just wanted to make sure they had a bag boy wherever they went…." He shrugged. "Not that they ever intended to leave Great Britain as far as I can tell. Can't be having with those other countries with them heathen foreigners after all," he said sarcastically. "You should have seen the looks they got when discussing the French."

Hermione shook her head in mild disgust with his relatives. "Not fans I take it?"

"I think they might be the only group they hated as much as Wizards," he noted. "Imagine if I'd had to go to Beauxbatons instead of Hogwarts?" He mused, it was rare he considered himself lucky when it came to the Dursleys.

Hermione tried to inject some levity into the conversation, "Knowing you, you and Fleur would have somehow ended up together and have had a bundle of French Veela babies in no time."

"Hermione, the one time I dated—" he protested.

She waved that off. "I know Harry, I was joking," she said pointedly.

They sat in silence a while longer, until Harry heaved a sigh drawing her attention again. "I'm sorry you know?" Her expression clearly stated she couldn't tell what he was on about. "For dragging you into this I mean. It would have been smarter to just…"

She growled in aggravation. "Honestly, Harry, I've told you before, I want to be a part of this. Do you understand?" she demanded. "I've chosen this."

He nodded almost in resignation. "I understand."

She shook her head and pushed to her feet before pacing to the door. Clearly exhaustion was getting to her friend, they were starting to go around in circles. "Harry, get some sleep. Things will look better in the morning.

—-

Emma returned to the bedroom, trying not to think about a school Headmaster who liked to take a dip into his students thoughts whenever the mood struck him. It wasn't that which caused her to become visibly disquieted when her husband looked up at her from his book. "What's wrong Emma? You look like you've seen a ghost," he noted, concerned.

"I was just helping Hermione bandage up Harry," she murmured making her way to the bed and shaking her head.

Dan grimaced and gave her a knowing look. "That bad is it?"

She struggled to find words for what she had seen. "It's not just the burn, it's the scarring. He's got them everywhere," she said mournfully. Dan was plenty sharp enough to know what that implied and sighed. "He told us about some of them you know? Mentioned Dragons and Basilisks like they were nothing. The ones that seemed to bother him the most came from his relatives."

"So they were abusing him them," Dan muttered, more a statement than a question. Emma answered him regardless.

"Yes, quite extensively…I can't believe some of the things that boy has been through."

Dan groaned and rubbed his face. "And I practically accused him of going out and looking for trouble," he noted, chagrined, thinking of the conversation back at the house. "Turns out he was saving someone's life…"

Emma nodded, then jerked her head in denial. "I just can't fathom it, it's like…How does a war go by entirely unnoticed by us?" she asked, clearly perplexed by the notion. Wars were loud messy things.

Dan misunderstood. "Well in fairness, it's not like Hermione's been entirely—"

Emma cut him off. "Not what I meant. I mean—how are we not seeing it in the news?"

Dan considered that and what he knew of magic. "Maybe it is in the news, think of all the bizarre stuff that's been going on lately, collapsing bridges, random fires, freak tornados…" he pointed out, thinking of some of the stuff that had been happening in the news lately.

"You think that's their war?" Emma asked worriedly.

Dan shrugged. "Maybe? How would we know?" he asked.

Emma's expression soured. "I don't like the sounds of the way these people handle things. I mean, do they really think so poorly of us muggles they won't tell our leaders when—"

It was Dan's turn to cut his spouse off. "Who's to say they don't?"

Emma had to concede that she didn't know for a fact that they didn't. But she felt the need to beleaguer the point somewhat. "From what I can tell most of them really don't think much of muggles…" she noted. "Have I mentioned how much I hate that word. I swear it sounds like a slur," she complained.

Dan was nodding. "I don't know why Hermione would put up with it. Why would she want to stay in that sort of atmosphere of prejudice?" he wondered aloud.

Emma smiled sadly. "I don't think she would, were it not for Harry. Remember how sad those first few letters from her were in first year? Before she became friends with him?" Dan nodded grimly.

"It's that bad with her is it?" he asked after mulling that over.

She shrugged. "I'm not sure bad is precisely the word for it, but yes I think so. Though she's half convinced herself to see him as a brother instead," she shook her head.

Dan just continued to frown. "I had a…similar conversation with him," he admitted.

"Oh?" Emma asked, quirking an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah, he said whatever he felt was irrelevant as she didn't see him that way," he agreed nodding idly.

She giggled a bit to herself at that. "I can't decide whether that's funny or whether I should be cringing in horror at how thick teenagers are sometimes," Dan was starting to get a bit melancholy at it all. He hated even thinking about the concept of a love life for his daughter. At least in the near future. "What are the chances that they'll come home from all this married with children?" Emma asked.

Dan uttered a heartfelt curse. "I don't want to even think about that…" He cringed visibly. "Uh—do you know if Hermione's…er, you know?"

"Sexually active?" Emma asked bluntly, then shrugged. "I get the impression she's never even been on a real date."

"So—no then?" Dan asked hopefully.

She grinned indulgently. "That's a no, dear. I think she's been holding out in hopes of landing the right one," she explained.

Dan groaned again. "Great and the one she considers the right one is the one she'll be basically rooming with for god knows how long."

Emma smiled at him and patted him on the cheek. "Dan, I love you, you know I do, so I hate to tell you this but—if you have two available, mutually attracted and sexually mature adults rooming together for any serious length of time it's somewhat inevitable they're going to be in bed together eventually. Well barring exceptional circumstances of course."

"Doesn't mean I have to like it," he said petulantly.

She elbowed him playfully. "It's not like we were much older than they are…"

"You know, there's a saying, that girls are god's revenge on males for being men. That forcing them to live in fear that their daughters will run into a male like them is some sort of karmic justice."

"Then should I be asking you what you did to piss off the almighty?"

"Har-effing-har!" he griped.

—

Dumbledore had just been subject to the worst roller coaster of a day he had endured in years. The usual humdrum of daily life at Hogwarts during the off season had given way late the previous evening to the sheer unmitigated panic of the reports detailing an attack on the Bones residence in London. This had in turn rapidly shifted to relief upon arriving there to find her and the other defenders still among the living.

Sadly, in keeping with his luck lately, that relief had once again been replaced with confusion and panic upon hearing of Harry's participation in the battle. The implications stirred up by Amelia's ultimatum to the Aurors in the Order's ranks had merely muddied the waters further.

He had with all due haste rushed to Privet Drive, in the vain hope of finding the boy safe and sound at his relative's house. Instead he found the boy's room vacated, what few of his belongings remained were placed in storage in a cupboard under the stairs and his exceedingly self-satisfied relatives were gloating about finally being rid of their nephew. The boy had left, apparently claiming he never intended to return.

He had proceeded to search all the most likely destinations, and had come up empty. He was not present at any of his friends domiciles, nor was he obviously present at Diagon Alley or Grimmauld Place. The boy, his ace in the hole against Voldemort, had seemingly dropped off the face of the earth and out of his hand in the struggle against Voldemort.

He had of course contacted Amelia Bones, both to see if she could provide clues to Harry's location and to attempt to cajole her into withdrawing her ultimatum but had been met with a stony silence from the ranks of the Auror Corps messages office.

This was not all to say that there were not a myriad of way he could attempt to track the lad. However none of them were particularly viable if Harry had no desire to be found. It wasn't like he could just hitch a tracking spell to an owl and send it to him. Tracking magic did exist but not of the sort you could hitch onto an object.

It was somewhat ironic to note that had Dumbledore attempted to track Harry or Hermione's movements the muggle way, he would have had much greater success than his own attempts had afforded him.

Adding to this sense of utter vexation was the attitude of one Severus Snape. Where usually the man would be more than happy to cast doubt upon Harry's character, and imply various negative things about his parentage, he had instead opted to stay silent.

Indeed when queried about it, he had merely indicated he was uncertain to what it was that Dumbledore was referring. The only question which he had answered in a satisfactory manner was that which related to the Dark Lord's own endeavours to hunt down Harry himself.

It was cold comfort that the Dark Lord had, at least as yet, entirely failed to find any trace of the lad either. How long that could last though with Harry running amok was another question entirely. He was quite frankly ruining all his plans.

—-

 **Author's Note:** Once again thank you to Bearmauls and Temporal Knight who beta/psuedo co-authored these first few chapters! Without them this story wouldn't be nearly as good as it is.

 **Recommendation(s) of the Week:** Going off the beaten path a little here and recommending a couple of Mass Effect/Various crossovers. First up is "The Mission Stays The Same." by Broken Trident, which is a very good Mass Effect/Warhammer crossover something which you wouldn't think would work, but does and is ongoing. And second up for today is Psi Effect, which is a fantastic Mass Effect/X-com crossover.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note:** Alright, so here's the next chapter (obviously) I'm very happy with the positive response this story has received thus far. Here's hoping I can keep it together, eh?

 **Reviews:** As ever reviews are much appreciated but not required.

* * *

 **Chapter 5: You want to go where?**

The next morning, after the four of them had shared a quiet breakfast together in the hotel's complimentary restaurant, Hermione and Harry found themselves sitting beside each other, on his bed in their shared room. They had, upon consideration the night before, decided that they should begin their search for people who could help them learn the skills they needed to survive. So Harry pulled out the mirror Madam Bones had gifted to him and considered it, clearly trying to remember just how it operated. "Call Amelia Bones, please," he instructed uncertainly.

The mirror hummed a few times. Hermione began to suspect it hadn't worked when there was a scrabbling sound and the mirror's glass became a whirl of motion before settling on Madam Bones' face. Her eyebrows inclined in surprise. "Ah, Harry," she greeted, "I admit, I was not expecting to hear from you so soon."

Harry grinned ruefully shaking his head. "I hadn't planned to, but—Hermione and I were considering our next move and a thought occurred to us…" Then he chuckled. "Actually it more occurred to her, I just went along with it."

Amelia nodded smiling, and offered a small wave to Hermione. "Hello Miss Granger. My Susan speaks very highly of you."

Hermione smiled a little at that. "Thank you ma'am, please give her my regards?"

Madam Bones inclined her head in agreement.

"So, what is it that has brought you two to me today Harry?" the director asked pleasantly.

Harry smirked. "We realized that simply running off and hoping we could learn what we need was foolish," he explained and she nodded, "And while isolation is still in the cards, we need someone to teach us."

Madam bones nodded thoughtfully rubbing her chin. "Okay, I'm following you so far."

Harry nodded. "The problem is that we don't know who is safe to approach or hire. Most of the people I'd normally think of are members of the Order, or Hogwarts, all of whom are likely to run to Dumbledore the moment I contact them. I had thought Gringotts might be able to set up secure tutoring contracts, but I'm unsure how to get in touch with them safely. As you can imagine, I'm not keen on walking down Diagon Alley at the moment. Then Hermione realized that you might be able to recommend someone you considered trustworthy, or at least know who I can contact."

The Director was following thus far. "So, basically, you want to know if I can recommend anybody?"

Hermione leaned forward. "Yes, ma'am."

The woman smiled ruefully. "I think, given the circumstances, you can call me Amelia, Harry."

The director leaned back in her chair. "Hmmm. Well I'd have to consider that." She shot them an apologetic look. "Things aren't…as I had hoped they were in my department, as you know." She got a chuckle from Harry in response. "I need to do some checking around… at the very least, I can easily deliver a message to Gringotts on your behalf. Then they can get in touch with you via owl."

Harry gave a worried frown. "What about the risk of the owl being intercepted? I'm not exactly keen on having my mail read, and I certainly wouldn't put it past Dumbledore to do something like that..."

The Director smiled thinly "You're right to be cautious, Harry, especially given the circumstances, but Gringotts owls make use of a fairly sophisticated Goblin warding system and are extremely difficult to intercept. They send out account statements regularly to their clients via owl, and I've never heard of one being waylaid," replied Amelia.

"Um… Madam-Amelia, I've never received account statements from Gringotts. Or any mail from them...like, ever." said Harry uncertainly.

Madam Bones' eyebrows climbed and she sat up straighter. "Harry, you're telling me, you've _never_ received mail from Gringotts?"

Harry shrugged, scratching his head a touch nervously "No… in fact, come to think of it, I've never received any fan mail either. Not that I'm complaining, far from it, but it seems unlikely that nobody has ever sent any to me."

Hermione snorted in amusement "You're right, Harry. I don't know how I never thought of that before. Even after all the hate-mail I received during the Triwizard, you didn't get anything. There _must_ be something blocking your mail!"

Amelia sighed. "There are spells that can be used to redirect post owls. They're normally used by pureblood parents to screen mail sent to their heirs. It's fairly easy to send something dangerous via owl post, such as compulsion-laced contracts or cursed objects. Dumbledore probably used a mail redirection ward on you, Harry. To keep you hidden."

"It always comes back to him, doesn't it" sighed Harry. "Admittedly, that was a good idea while I was living in the muggle world. I can't imagine what my uncle would have done if owls were bringing me fan mail while I was growing up! But he should have removed it when I started attending Hogwarts, or at least passed the mail on to me! Isn't it illegal to take someone's mail? I know it is in the muggle world. Is there any way around it?"

"Not easily, Harry, and certainly not without Dumbledore's assistance. As your magical guardian, it's still perfectly legal for him to have the mail ward up. If he wasn't your magical guardian, the post owls would probably be able to ignore it, they are magically enchanted. Gringotts owls would certainly get through it. But as your guardian, he does have the right, and arguably the responsibility, to protect you from malicious mail, and Gringotts' mail is no exception to that law. It's suspicious that you've never received your mail, certainly, but nothing he could get in trouble for. At least, not with his reputation" replied Amelia. "The ward will fade over time without him around to re-apply it, probably within a few months. You could also try overpowering it, but without knowing exactly which spell he used, that would be difficult and probably beyond your current abilities. While we disagree on a lot of issues, especially with his treatment of you, he is still a very powerful wizard. Any ward he cast is likely to be quite formidable."

"I think I might have a much simpler solution, Madam Bones' said Hermione. "When you contact Gringotts for us, could you please inform them of the mail-block on Harry and request that they send their reply to me instead? I've never had any problems receiving wizarding mail, whether I want the contents or not."

Amelia looked at Hermione in shock, then grinned. "Brilliant solution, Miss Granger. I'll do just that. They won't be willing to send anything confidential to you on Harry's behalf, of course. At least not without confirmation from him in person, but I can foresee no issues with them sending a means to get in touch, or a list of the possible training services they can offer you. Depending on where you end up, you may even be able to access another Gringotts branch; they aren't common, but there are a few scattered around the world besides the one in Diagon Alley."

She paused then cocked her head at them. "May I ask where you are planning to go?"

She and Harry glanced at each other and she shrugged deferring to him in this case. He nodded deciding he could trust her. "My family owns a couple of properties around the world."

Madam Bones smiled at that. "Oh, very well-played…" she agreed. "That will work nicely, I think. It is possible, although admittedly difficult, to track post owls and locate the mail recipient. Fortunately, the owl's own magic tends to resist tracking spells and throws them off quite quickly. If you're out of the country, you should be safe from that method to find you. I strongly recommend, however, that you both learn the detection spells for sorting your mail. Dumbledore could easily send a portkey-charmed letter, or compulsion-charmed object as a method to retrieve you."

"I _may_ know some people who could help you train, but the true difficulty is finding someone who could commit to traveling to you and staying long-term. Unregistered international portkeys are tracked by the entry and exit countries, and a registered portkey would leave a paper trail that someone with Ministry access could use to track you down if they noted the repeated travel." She shook her head ruefully. "I'll need to do some checking up on who might be available. I assume, seeing as it's sunny wherever you are right now, you have yet to depart for your destination?"

Harry nodded. "That's correct."

Madam Bones nodded. "Then I shall wish you a good journey. I would offer to assist in getting you there quickly, but, as you may have guessed, things are not secure at the Ministry right now. If I have any further insights for you, I'll get in touch. Feel free to contact me as well if anything comes up. I know the Ministry hasn't always been kind to you, Harry, but I'd like to see about changing that going forward."

Harry smiled wanly in agreement. "I'll look forward to that, I think... Thank you for all your help, Ma'am"

"You're welcome. I promise, I will look into things for you. Good luck," the Director said, bidding them farewell.

* * *

The Department of Mysteries. A catacomb of secrets and lies, a hive of activities tackling the hard questions. Or at least that's what it had been like traditionally. Now it was busy, but in a way that it was unaccustomed to. The usual eerily silent halls now rang with the cacophony of workers, as they worked to reconstruct the department following the recent battle.

The Time Chamber was by far the worst, the entire place labeled a no-go zone. It was one big temporal anomaly following the destruction of so many time turners. The experts said it would likely be a century and a half before the enchantments fuelling the problem dissipated. Last time someone had stepped inside they exited the room two days before they first arrived.

The Thought Chamber was better off, they had already completed the reconstruction and the only remaining hurdle they faced was tracking and wrangling the wayward, self-ambulating brains. One particularly recalcitrant specimen had set up a nest in one of the sub levels and had hospitalized both employees who had tried to retrieve it.

The Space room was still being swept up for bits of shattered planets…

The Death Chamber was, as ever, disturbingly immutable in its consistence. It remained, seemingly unaffected by the heated battle which had raged there, save for the occasional pockmark and crater in the walls and floor. The chill in the room unabated despite the activity which had occurred within it.

Amelia Bones was forced to search through just about all of these rooms before she finally found her quarry in what was left of the Hall of Prophecy. It was an irony which was not lost on her, considering what she was here to discuss.

Saul Isaiah Croaker, senior Unspeakable, was currently assigned as Head of the Department of Mysteries. A strange but thoughtful man who appeared to be approaching middle age, although one could never really tell with magicals, and even less so with with people who worked in this department for any length of time. He was busily tabulating, labelling and organizing a series of small glass globes filled with pearlescent vapour on one of the rooms newly reconstituted shelves. A frankly surprising sight, considering the destruction which had been wrought on this room; Amelia had been under the impression all the prophecy globes had been destroyed.

"There's already new ones coming in? I was under the impression prophecies were fairly rare," Amelia noted, choosing not to waste time on niceties.

Saul glanced up at her voice and smiled before glancing back at his work. "Eh, sort of. These are, in fact, old prophecies, in that we've already heard them, but with so many destroyed…Regardless, it seems some of the seers currently active have been receiving…'relapses'. It appears whatever force it is that decides to send visions is reissuing some of them. New ones are…" He trailed off as there was a dull pop and another globe faded into existence on the shelf. He smiled brightly at her. "So, what can I help you with today, Amelia?"

She nodded, not so much as blinking at the sudden change of direction. "I had some questions. The first concerns the Potter Prophecy, do you know it?"

Saul grimaced and shook his head. "No, I'm afraid not. It may show up again, like these others, but, then again, it may not. Either way, you'd need the subject of the prophecy to be present in order to hear it."

Amelia sighed. She'd hoped to clarify things, but for now she was satisfied. "I have another question, but it's somewhat sensitive in nature."

Saul nodded slowly. "Alright, this is actually as good a place as any to talk, it's currently restricted to myself in here, the workers and others won't disturb us," he assured her. It was rare for the Director of the DMLE to show herself in his department. That she came in search of answers was unusual to say the least, and intriguing.

Anelia considered him in silence for a time. "What do you know about mind-links or…being able to sense another person's presence remotely?" Amelia considered a moment more before continuing, still a bit hesitantly, "I've run into someone who's able to detect another very specific individual from a distance and read him, or at least sense the direction of his thoughts and emotions."

Croaker blinked in surprise. "Ah, well I suppose there are a number of possibilities in that regard…" he pondered that as he scribbled down the details from the little plaque on the latest arrival. "Telepathy, as defined by the muggles, is the unrestricted communication from mind to mind. A myth, to the best of our knowledge. Legilimency can, of course, achieve a rough semblance of it, though it's not a two way communication precisely…Hmmm." He scratched the stubble on his chin. "But, sensing someone from a distance without eye contact… most peculiar. I would need to do some research to find out more. The only other similar phenomena, though it is much less precise, is a soul bond. But that's incredibly rare," he noted.

Amelia shook her head promptly at that. "It's not a soul bond, the two subjects involved are quite hostile towards each other."

"Huh, I wonder if a person could theoretically generate a sort of reverse soul bond? One designed to sense someone you feel an antipathy towards? Like a warning system," he hypothesized. His eyes flicked to her sharply. "Could you tell me any more about the subjects? It may be important…" He noted.

Madam Bones hesitated. It was, after all, not a small matter. "Only if you are willing to swear that no other person beside yourself hears of it, Saul."

He blinked in surprise. Magical oaths were not something demanded lightly. "A magical oath?" he asked to be clear.

"It would set my mind at ease," Amelia agreed.

Saul nodded, considering for a few moment before seeming to accept this, and drew his wand holding it vertically before him. "Very well. I, Saul Isaiah Croaker, do solemnly swear upon my magic that what Amelia Bones and I discuss in this conversation shall not be revealed by me to any others, until such time that she releases me from this oath. So mote it be." He swore and a small light wrapped around his wrist from the wand.

Amelia nodded in satisfaction. "Thank you, Saul. The subject in question is Harry Potter, and he reports that he can sense V-Voldemort from a distance."

Croaker blinked surprise. "Truly? Fascinating…How did he describe it?"

Amelia thought back, trying to remember anything specific Harry may have said. Her thoughts had been understandably distracted at the time. "He suggested it seemed to in some way be linked to his scar. The one Voldemort gave him in 1981."

Croaker considered that, tapping his foot as he thought. "Interesting…a magical bond built into a curse artifact? Perhaps… no— I need to read up on various kinds of mind to mind communications. Mental links and such. That is hardly my area of expertise."

Amelia nodded readily. "I understand, but if you find anything, I would be grateful."

"Is there any chance that I could examine the subject? Potter, I mean, not the other fellow. I hear he has a rather nasty temperament that one," Saul noted dryly.

"Not in the near future," Amelia replied with shrug. "But perhaps at some point, assuming I get his permission," she stipulated.

Saul nodded soberly. "Of course. I promise I will do what I can in the meantime."

Amelia blew out a relieved breath. "Thanks Saul, I owe you one."

He waved that off. "Think nothing of it. Now, then was there anything else I can help you with?" he asked.

"Not right now. I've been up since yesterday morning, just so busy with everything that happened last night," Amelia replied, running a hand through her disheveled hair.

Saul nodded solemnly. "Ah yes, I had heard about that. Terrible business—still! Lucky you survived eh?" he grinned.

Amelia grimaced. "Yes, at least me and Susan made it through. Others weren't so fortunate. Auror Daniels passed this morning as a result of his wounds. Emmeline Vance is still in a coma. The tail I had on Susan has vanished entirely..." she noted bitterly.

"We must take our victories where we can get them," Saul agreed sagely.

Amelia turned to leave. "True enough. I'll see you around Saul. I hate to bail on you, but I have an appointment with Gringotts I really must keep." Her departure was punctuated by another dull pop as a prophecy showed up.

* * *

As the shuttle-bus from their hotel to Heathrow went over a particularly rough bump, Hermione felt the thick parchment tucked inside her jacket crinkle slightly. They had been fairly lucky, all things considered, that the majestic owl Gringotts' had sent their way had found them before leaving the hotel. She didn't want to imagine the looks they would receive if the bird had swooped down on them at the airport departure area!

The letter had arrived shortly before they boarded the shuttle. Although it was killing her, Hermione had agreed with Harry to hold off on reading the contents until their luggage was loaded and the bus was safely on it's way to the airport.

Harry, seated beside his best friend, watched her internal struggle over the unread letter with barely suppressed amusement. He knew how she was with books, it shouldn't surprise him how much it bothered her not to read the letter immediately. Seeming to sense his amusement, Hermione glanced over and caught the glimmer of laughter in his eyes, before huffing in annoyance.

"Really, Harry? Is my impatience that amusing to you?" she grumbled.

"Well…" Harry replied with a grin, only to let out a pained grunt as Hermione's elbow caught him in the side. "Oh alright, Hermione. I think we can read it now."

Hermione grinned and pulled the letter out, wasting no time as she tore open the envelope and shook out the folded parchment. She considered turning away from Harry in punishment for making her wait, but eventually decided that it really had been safer to wait until they were underway. She leaned slightly against his shoulder and held open the letter so they could both read.

 _Miss Hermione Granger,_

 _It has come to the attention of Gringotts bank that you might be capable of providing this institution with unfettered access to one of our chief clients. As you might imagine, the bank is quite concerned that our standard operations are being interfered with, and we find ourselves desiring to rectify this complication._

 _The issues are thus. This bank needs a reliable method by which it might communicate with Harry James Potter. In addition, it is required by contract to inform both Harry James Potter and yourself that your presences are requested at the Will reading of one Sirius Orion Black, of the Most Noble and Ancient House of Black, Thursday, July 8th._

 _It is known to us that, due to extenuating circumstances, direct attendance may be impractical. As such, this bank is pleased to inform you that remote attendance of the will reading is possible from any Gringotts bank branch worldwide._

 _Both matters as described can easily be rectified should yourself and Mr Potter approach the branch Manager at any of our fine locations._

 _The locations of Gringotts bank branches are as follows:_

 _-Diagon Alley, London England (Primary Office Atlantic Division)_

 _-Imhotep's Grotto, Cairo Egypt (Branch)_

 _-Enchante Street, Rio Brazil (Branch)_

 _-Magical International Market, Oahu Hawaii (Primary Office, Pacific Division)_

 _-Majak Market, Kalale India (Branch)_

 _-Walcott Rd, Salem, USA (Branch)_

 _We thank you for your attention and hope that you might aid us in rectifying this matter._

 _-Senior Accounts Manager Ripsack._

 _Gringotts Bank, Diagon Alley, London England_

Hermione allowed the letter to fall back into her lap and looked over at her friend. Harry had simply chuckled and rubbed his face distractedly. "Well, we intend to be overseas anyways, so it's good they gave us a solution. I wish I had known about the will reading…" His tone indicated he knew precisely whom he could blame for his ignorance in that matter. "Well, we were already planning on checking out the Hawaii property, pretty convenient for us that there's a Gringotts branch there too. Can't say I'm looking forward to a flight that long, though.I'd suggest getting a magic car or something instead, fly there private and in style! I think only the ministry have those, though, and I imagine they'd be expensive…well except for the old Weasley car. Not that I fancy traveling around in that, though, not after it's been living in the forest for a couple years." He chuckled.

Hermione laughed too at the memory of Harry and Ron's misadventure with the Weasley's enchanted vehicle. "Me neither. I wonder where Mr. Weasley got that thing."

Harry smiled brightly, surprising her. "I asked him about that one. Apparently he confiscated it from someone. Turns out they stole it from it's rightful owner, but the department couldn't return it because they had passed away. Mr. Weasley then tinkered with it a bit, trying to add to the modifications already on it." He smiled wistfully, thinking of the conversation he'd had with the friendly redhead over Christmas regarding it. "That car, and the old motorcycle Sirius had, they were given to their owners by my parents. Apparently they had a knack for modifying things. Not something the Ministry really approves of, given the misuse of muggle artifacts law, but I guess when you're from a Noble and Ancient House, you can get exemptions."

"Really? How come you never mentioned that before?" she asked in surprise.

"Forgot, really. Arthur told me a lot about that. Apparently they recently found another enchanted vehicle floating around, the Ministry had confiscated it off someone I think. Illegal modifications or some such," he offered and she smiled. "They thought it was one of my parents creations, but the car's too new for that. Maybe someone got a hold of some of their notes and took up the torch…"

"Maybe one of their friends?" Hermione suggested.

Harry shrugged, "Could be, now that I think about it. That car came from somewhere in Canada. Maybe near their property out there? I imagine they made friends while there…"

She nodded, a thought occurring to her. "Where did you say that the property in Canada was?"

"Uh-I don't know that I did, I think it's in Churchill or something, Manitoba if I remember right. Come to think of it, that is where the car came from too." He seemed to brighten at the idea.

"Do you want to go visit there then? At the very least you might track down someone who knew your parents, make some friends overseas? We have plenty of time to check it out before we need to be in Hawaii for Sirius' Will reading. I think he'd approve of you trying to track down memories of your parents. We know he loved that motorcycle." Hermione suggested. She knew how much Harry still grieved for Sirius, and learning of the will reading would probably make it worse. Finding some lost links to his parents, especially since it was something they had shared with Sirius, would likely do Harry a world of good.

Harry considered that. His expression had fallen at the reminder of Sirius, but brightened again when she mentioned his motorcycle. "Yeah, why don't we, I mean...we were already intending to visit their other properties, right? That is, if you're alright with it? I'd like the chance to meet some of my parents old friends..."

She squeezed his hand before getting up. "I'm alright with it, Harry. First thing once we reach the airport, let's go find some tickets to Churchill."

* * *

It was becoming increasingly difficult for a wizard to move about the muggle world unnoticed. Robes of any sort had long since fallen out of fashion. A shame really, Dumbledore mused as he finished re-sealing the door to the Granger house behind him. Now, if someone wished to move about in such places, one needed to dress in the bizarre clothing Muggles favoured, unless, like Dumbledore, you refused to do so and instead resorted to disillusionment charms and such. Even then, one had to be cautious, many animals seemed immune to their effects and reacted strangely. Like cats! Cats were the worst for this phenomena and had such a propensity for staring. It was most disconcerting, and made Dumbledore grateful that Crookshanks had apparently left alongside his owner.

He had come to see if the Grangers' had heard anything from Harry, though he supposed it may have been too much to hope that they might have seen him after his meeting with Amelia early this morning. Sadly, it appeared that they were once again on their annual summer holiday. It was unfortunate that Miss Granger had failed to inform him, but it was of no real consequence. He hoped that the others were faring better in their search.

* * *

"And you are certain none of your children have heard anything from Mr. Potter?" Minerva asked Molly Weasley as she shared an afternoon tea with the woman.

"Oh yes, I asked them last night," Molly confirmed, bobbing her head.

"We finally managed to confirm Harry was at the Bones' residence the night of the attack. Amelia has been rather put out with us of late, I'm afraid," McGonagall informed the Weasley matriarch sourly, her tone clipped. "It seems she takes exception to us 'highjacking' her Aurors."

"Can't she see that we need to work together?" Molly's tone reeked of disapproval. This was her default state whenever she encountered something contrary to Dumbledore's wishes. Rightly or wrongly, the woman was very loyal to the man and his ideals.

"Oh, she quite agrees that we should work together…" Minerva noted curtly. "She just believes it needs to be under the Ministry's banner and not that of the Order. She seems to have shown a willingness to work with Mr. Potter, she as much as admitted she had covered for him. Though she refused to discuss why the two of them had met in the first place."

"Well, I'm sure we'll keep an ear out for Harry. I don't know what that boy is thinking, but I should turn him over my knee for worrying us like this," Molly griped picking up the dishes and bustling to the sink.

"Thank you for the tea, Molly," McGonagall said, a touch exasperated with the woman, as she got to her feet. "I'm afraid I must be off, though. I have other acquaintances of Mr Potter to see today."

"Oh, well I hope you have better luck…" Molly said in farewell to her friend. Neither of the witches had noticed the tell tale thin pink string of an extendable ear that hung in the Burrows stairwell as it was hurriedly reeled in up out of sight. Nor did they hear the muttered whispers high in the shadows above.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** As ever, thank you to Temporal Knight and Bearmauls. Without them this story would suck badly.

 **Recommendations:** Harry/Tonks story, "Harry Potter and the Summer of Change", basically a classic as far as HP fanfics are concerned. Also, "The Infinity Effect" a very good Mass Effect/Halo crossover that Bearmauls helps with.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Notes:** Okay! So Doc Manager is still messed up, but thanks to the efforts of my Betas I've managed to get the last couple chapters out to you. I'm greatly cheered by the positive response I've received thus far, and hope I can keep this all running smoothly. I think you lot should enjoy this chapter, I look forward to hearing what you think!

 **Reviews:** As ever reviews are welcome, and greatly appreciated, but are not required.

* * *

 **Chapter 6:** **No Rest for the Wicked**

Tonks exploded through the door, boots pounding the tile beneath her in time with her rapidly thumping heart, as they rushed to reach Harry before the Death Eaters did. Judging by the screaming, they may have already failed. The door opened into a large open room. It was circular, with raised balconies lining the edge around a bowl like depression with a great arch of rough stone in the centre, which was covered by a black shroud. Below, on the lower level near the edge of the bowl, several people had gathered. If she were feeling generous enough to refer to Death Eaters as people.

The Order didn't wait for them to get their bearings, only pausing to ensure they weren't hitting the captured students in the process. _Stupefy_! A large bolt of red light shrieked from her wand tip and lanced down toward a sneering blonde bastard who could only be a Malfoy. He was quick though, she had to give him that, as he dove out of the way. The stunner smashed into the ground where he'd been a moment before.

Tonks didn't pause though, following up that with a series of powerful hexes and binders. Damn Dumbledore and his code of honour anyhow. Soon there were spells being returned to them, some of a more subtle nature impacting the balcony around them with a clatter, others, like that last roiling purple one, blowing a solid meter of granite and marble apart where it hit. She cursed, she hated fighting like this. Fooling around with stunners, binders and hexes while the enemy fired crap like that at them.

The young auror moved towards the stairs as the rest of the Order dropped into the chamber below, it was all well and good for them to try mad stuff like that but with her coordination she was as likely to break something as not. Better to be patient, mind her surroundings. 'Constant vigilance' as Mad Eye would say. She halted as a figure stepped to the bottom of the stairway.

The woman looked like her mother, if her mother had spent the last couple decades sucking down poison instead of water. Wild black hair around even wilder eyes. Bellatrix, her aunt. Possibly the woman had been beautiful once, but not anymore. Now, she was gaunt and wasted, with mad, wide, staring eyes. Tonks couldn't afford to hesitate, not even for family, especially not if Bellatrix were as ruthlessly insane as her mother had suggested.

The woman deftly sidestepped the stunner Tonks had aimed her way, a broad smile splitting her face. "Ah Ickle Nymphiedora! I always wished we had gotten the chance to play back in the day," she cackled, unleashing a string of hexes which tore up the stairway and followed with a spell which hurled the debris at her niece. "But I guess my damn blood traitor of a sister thought I'd be a bad influence on you!"

Tonks blocked the whirling debris with a shield and cast a string of hexes and jinxes at her aunt who was ever so slowly working her way up the stairs. Bellatrix merely flicked her wrist, almost negligently really and the attack was batted aside. She heard bellowing and explosions of sound as the battle continued around them, but she couldn't afford to let it distract her. Not now. She understood just what it was she faced.

Her aunt had acted as Voldemort's number two for the latter half of the previous war, and she was - despite her mad ramblings - possessing of a cruel intellect and a legendary duelist. Tonks had read her file back to front, she knew what atrocities her aunt was capable of. She'd need every bit of her skill to beat her.

Nymphadora shuffled back, as Bellatrix hit her shield with a nasty curse which was doubtless intended to disembowel her. The resultant movement allowed Bellatrix to gain another series of steps quickly. They traded fire like this, thunderclaps accompanying the battering of spells against shields, and the ground shaking beneath their feet whenever spells went wide and obliterated a portion of the balcony.

Limiting her spell repertoire was clearly a losing proposition, she couldn't continue like this, and lashed out with something serious, a cutting curse followed by a blasting hex which showered her aunt with debris. "Better, little Nymphiedora! I thought you hadn't a spine, now I see you do! Dumbledore will be so disappointed when he finds I've strangled you with it."

They traded blows, moving quickly, sometime hurling hexes, sometimes debris and transfigured objects at each other, but then her luck ran out, the fighting had destabilized the balcony and it shifted, Tonks had to quick step to maintain her feet and her heel caught on a piece of wreckage. She tumbled to the ground and rolled, but it was still more than enough for her Aunt to gain the upper hand. She stood and tried to bring up her wand to shield but…

" _Crucio_!" Bellatrix crowed in triumph, and Tonks' world dissolved into pain, worse than anything she'd ever felt previously. Aurors were taught what the spell felt like as a matter of course, but that was a training situation under strict supervision, this was something else entirely. She did her best, trying to stay upright, but she felt as if she were encased in flame, her nerves were alight with electricity and her bones groaned. She tried, she really did, but she hit her knees as her body succumbed to the pain. Then the spell itself stopped, though the pain didn't and she saw her aunt stalk forward. "Not bad little one, you held up better than most, but I'm an old hand at this, and now you won't be getting old at all," she said in a low voice, her tone for once devoid of it's mocking edge, and its infantile tones. Now it was cold and ever so deadly serious.

Bellatrix stepped back then lashed out with a foot, catching Tonks full in the chest. She reeled back…into open space. She'd wandered too close to the edge of the balcony and now it was going to cost her. She fell and fell, and hit the floor below with a crash that she would have described as bone shattering, had it not been for the fact her nervous system was already half fried. Her vision winked out as her brain was suddenly inundated with reports of catastrophic damage.

She drifted, for a time in peaceful, blissfully painless silence for a time, before she heard a voice from far away. "Dumbledore! Dumbledore is here…" She knew that should please her, though she couldn't quite remember why. Her vision tunnelled again as she shifted slightly, then words that she knew would haunt her for years to come. "Sirius! Sirius!" The anguish in that tone managed to penetrate even her fugue enough to communicate one final message. He was gone, Sirius was dead…

* * *

Tonks bolted upright, eyes flying wide, a rattling gasp torn from her lungs by the last frantic shreds of her memories. The last shreds of her memory...She flinched, her hands coming up as her eyes screwed tight against the images still cascading through her mind. She drew a ragged breath, and then another. Again, it had happened to her again. It wasn't bad enough she had to have lived it the first time, now she had to relive it every night?

After cautiously opening her eyes, Tonks dropped her hand to grasp the quilt. She gritted her teeth. She closed her eyes again, this time from exhaustion more than anything, and let herself slump back, her breath whooshing from her lungs as she flopped onto the mattress before once again opening her eyes.

The tired young woman allowed her head to loll bonelessly on her shoulders and looked at the little alarm clock sitting beside her on the night table. It read as almost noon, she'd forgotten to set the alarm. She'd slept solid, if what she was doing could be called such, since around five a.m. Yet another poor night's sleep. She'd had many of those since that night at the Ministry.

She groaned, shielding her eyes against the small lances of light dappling her pillow through the gaps in her blinds. Tonks wished she could sleep, really sleep, if only to experience a few hours of true oblivion, freedom from her life. It had been a miserable couple of weeks. Had it really only been that long? Sometimes it seemed like an eternity had passed since the Department of Mysteries. Groaning, she rolled off the side of the bed and onto her feet. If not for the sunlight coming through the blinds, she'd swear no time had passed since she'd crashed at around five a.m. She fervently wished she could collapse back into bed, just forget the last twenty four hours, another miserable addition to an already horrible couple weeks.

First, getting the call to rally at DMLE HQ, and then being deployed to her boss' house because the panic flare had been cracked. The shock and confusion that caused had been understandably extreme. The Director's home naturally seemed unassailable to the rank and file. She remembered the fear when she first saw the damage to the top floor of the apartment building, and the panicked muggles dashing about. That fear turned to relief when they made it upstairs and found the fight over and Amelia alive and relatively well.

Tonks had been ordered back to the Ministry to root out the right bloody bastard who had sold out and shut down the Director's floo when she needed it most. She'd organized a squad as ordered, and locked down the floo office, she had even begun sifting through their records and interrogating the confused staff when she heard Bones had returned to the Ministry.

She had left the investigation in the able hands of another auror before reporting their progress to the director. At which point her evening had taken another turn. The Director had firmly and definitively filed Tonks' day under the crap column. It had been hard enough facing the fact that she'd gravely disappointed a woman she had looked up to for years. Amelia had been one of the few to believe in Tonks from the very beginning when she had been recruited for the Academy. Tonks had let her down, if not necessarily in joining the Order in the first place, then in continuing to serve them once the Ministry had joined the fray. It had been hard…telling her friends she couldn't help them anymore. It had hurt seeing their shocked and disappointed faces. She couldn't decide how she felt about the whole sordid affair.

On the one hand, she had made a mistake and she knew it now. She should be glad Bones had called her on it. Being an Auror meant everything to her, it had been her greatest achievement, she'd proved that the goofball nobody thought would come to anything could get accepted into the ranks of some of the most elite wizards in Britain. And she jeopardized it all by joining the Order. On the other she was stung by the way that Harry had effectively given away her secret, it felt like a betrayal. Though she would wait to hear his side of the story before rendering judgement. She didn't know what had been going through his mind at the time.

And she wouldn't get to see _him_ anymore either. Though again Tonks wasn't certain how she felt about that. It had been beyond humiliating to be shot down so… thoroughly when she had gone out on a limb and declared her affection for him. That it had happened where others had overheard had been much much worse. At least he hadn't spoken to her last night. That would have put a perfect crowning moment on her very rough evening.

Just one more bad day, in a long series of bad days. It seemed like nothing but bad days had followed the death of Sirius. She missed him., she'd thought her favourite cousin had been lost all those years ago, then had found out he was innocent all along. He'd always been so good about brightening her mood and looking out for her. He'd even warned her not to risk her heart with Moony, as he called his friend. He'd been right, and now he was gone. Killed by her evil bitch of an aunt, Bellatrix Lestrange.

Tonks couldn't dwell on that, it would just make her even more miserable and she had to get to work. At least she'd been smart and dumped all the fire whiskey down the drain the night after Sirius had died. She'd have been in real trouble had she not…

Rolling out of bed and stumbling into the bathroom, Tonks was briefly shocked at the face that stared back from the mirror. Surely that couldn't be her, looking so downtrodden and bedraggled. It was funny when she thought about it, that she never thought of herself as Nymphadora, not even in her own head anymore. She was…Tonks. And that woman in the mirror didn't match her image of Tonks.

Tonks tried vainly to change her hair colour at least, that had always been the easiest but it stayed that stubborn rough and tumble mousy brown she been stuck with for weeks. She shook her head and stripped for her shower. Perhaps she'd feel better after washing off the sweat and grime from yesterday? Half an hour and a breakfast later and she wasn't much better off, but at least she didn't smell. She sat chewing her cereal and glaring darkly at her small apartment. It really was a dump, she realized, taking in the tired atmosphere of the space around her. She'd need do something about that. In her copious amounts of 'spare' time that weren't spent catching up on missed meals or sleep, no doubt.

* * *

Luna was distraught., She'd barely held it together through the questioning she had endured at the hands of the Order. But now, as she sat under her favourite tree along the property line furthest from her house, she finally allowed the tears flow freely. They ran in rivulets down her cheeks as she allowed herself to sob.

Harry had left, and if what the Order suggested was correct, it sounded like he had no intention of returning. Life could be especially cruel, she decided. It had finally given her a taste, a glimpse, of what a life with true friendship was like, and then proceeded to take it away again.

Luna had other acquaintances now, which she could describe as friendly. That was an improvement, in and of itself. But it wouldn't be the same, not without Harry. Harry, who had been kind to her, had included her and trusted her with secrets. Harry, who, even when he clearly thought she was being odd, never rendered judgement against her or returned cruel nicknames and jokes at her expense. It was, in fact, through being close to him, that she'd managed to draw as close to the others as she had. Without him to tie them all together, Luna had no doubt those relationships would fade away.

Life, or perhaps fate, had been unkind enough to take much from her. The accident which had claimed her mother's life had also stripped away much of her father's sanity. Her childhood friends had, one by one, turned their backs on her. It had been one of them who had first labeled her 'Loony' Lovegood. And some days, which seemed to have been coming with increasing frequency over the course of her long isolation, she had even come to doubt her own sanity.

It had been wonderful, escaping from her problems for a time, to have friends. The world was different with Harry around; maybe it was because he was a leader? When he spoke, others listened. When he required it of them, they got along. But he also seemed to make the impossible possible, things like her having friends. Causing a situation she only dared dream about to come true. The DA had been everything she dreamed Hogwarts could be, but it wouldn't be, not without him. All that would be over now, and so she grieved.

Luna wiped at her eyes, hurriedly concealing the obvious evidence she had been upset as she heard the crunch of footsteps on the gravel path behind her. She dared to hope that, for once, it would be her father coming to comfort her. But as she turned, this hope too was proven to be in vain.

It was Ginny Weasley, one of her more positive acquaintances, and a neighbour. Judging from the redheaded girl's expression she had also heard the news about Harry's departure..

"I take it you've heard about Harry?" Ginny said, a touch tightly, upon seeing Luna's tearful face.

She nodded weakly and sniffed trying to clear her nose. "Yes. Did the Order come around your place too?"

Ginny smirked bitterly. "Yeah, or rather they came and chatted at mum and we children listened in." Her irritation was clear to hear as she plunked down in the grass beside her.

"Your mother doesn't keep you informed about the Order?" Luna asked, surprised.

Ginny made a distinctly unladylike noise. "No, if we didn't listen in, we wouldn't know anything at all."

They sat in silence considering that for a time. Luna had never believed in blissful ignorance, that sort of innocence hadn't been a part of her since she witnessed her mother pass away in front of her. It didn't surprise her that Ginny felt the same way about being left out of information about their friend. "Do you know why Harry has left?"

Ginny grimaced. "No, he doesn't really speak with me a lot. Not about anything important anyways."

Luna was disappointed. She wanted answers. "Does anyone know why he left?"

There was a hesitant pause while Ginny considered her response. "Maybe…" she admitted. "I overheard that Amelia Bones, you know the Director of the DMLE? I heard she'd seen him since he left his relatives."

Madam Bones wasn't someone Luna knew much about, but her reputation painted her as a serious but kind woman, who valued law and order above just about everything else. She'd met the woman once or twice briefly, when she'd been forced to enter the ministry to post bail whenever her father got himself in trouble on one of his crusades.

Ginny was nodding now. "Yeah, apparently Harry was with her at some point...Oh!" Ginny yelped giving Luna a start. "Did you hear? She was attacked. It was You-Know-Who himself!" she explained with a shiver.

Luna nodded slowly. "I knew there was an attack, but I hadn't heard that he was there, how did she survive?" she asked. Nobody survived Voldemort, at least not regular people. People like Dumbledore and Harry did. But not normal people like her or Madam Bones.

Ginny scratched her neck absently and shrugged. "Don't know...You don't think? Do you think that was when Harry was there do you?" she wondered aloud.

Luna paused considering that. Harry Potter had perhaps the most uncanny sense of timing when it came to trouble, and if he really had been with Madam Bones at sometime in the recent past...What were the chances, after all, of the woman having survived such an attack alone? "Maybe," she allowed. "Do you know why he was meeting with her?"

Having finally had a potential source on what was happening, Luna was going to get all the information she could. Ginny shook her head. "No, apparently she's being really tight lipped about it all. She even admitted to covering for Harry but would say nothing else…." She trailed off as a thought occurred to her. "However, she did demand all the Auror members of the Order resign from the Order the night before…"

Luna cocked her head thinking about that. "The timing is interesting, that would be about the right time…" She sighed. "I don't think he plans to come back, do you?" Ginny merely looked askance at her and explained. "Would you risk coming back under Dumbledore's control if _you_ had gone to all that trouble to disappear? I mean, it appears he went through the effort of striking a bargain with Madam Bones, if she's willing to cover for him like that."

Ginny nodded as she followed the other girl's reasoning. "What do you think he's doing?"

Luna shrugged. "I don't know, but I intend to find out." They sat together for a time just watching the wind ripple the wheat in a nearby field. "Have you heard from any others about being questioned by the Order?"

"No, not yet." Ginny said, shaking her head. "None of us Weasleys have heard from him. You haven't heard from him. Hermione's out of the country again, we think…" She stopped as Luna's head jerked around to look at her.

"Hermione's gone, too?" Luna asked, shocked.

Ginny shrugged. "No, she just goes on vacation with her parents this time of year. We've owled her but she hasn't gotten around to responding to our letters is all."

Luna gave her a skeptical look. "Hermione? Not being punctual about answer mail? We are talking about the same woman, aren't we?" she asked giving her friend a look that clearly communicated how absurd a notion this was.

Ginny blinked as she considered that. "You think Hermione knows... and just isn't telling the rest of us?"

Luna cocked her head quizzically at the redhead. "Who else would Harry trust to help him in a time of need?" Ginny flushed and visibly flinched, before stamping down hard on her temperament, it was profound enough that Luna made note of it. "What? What is it?"

Ginny shook herself and looked chagrined. "Sorry, just-the thought of the two of them alone...it still gets me sometimes," she admitted sheepishly.

Luna eyed her friend blandly, Ginny had held a torch for Harry for quite some time, anyone who knew her at all would find it obvious. Given that, while Ginny's restraint on the issue of Harry's closest female friend was impressive, Luna felt compelled to inquire further. "Ginny? Why are you so fixated on Harry? Romantically, I mean?" Ginny blushed at her friend's frank description.

"W-well...I suppose it's because of a number of reasons, really," she admitted, looking away. "I mean, I grew up on those stories about him...He saved my life in first year." She looked to her friend who was studiously blank, a mild smile on her lips. "He's really nice? A-and handsome too!" She protested, she gestured to Luna. "And are you honestly telling me you don't fancy him too? Not even just a little bit?"

It was Luna's turn to blush and look away. "Occasionally," she admitted weakly, clearing her throat discretely to steady her voice. "It's hard not to be attracted to someone who's so nice to you," she defended. She wouldn't dare so much as to tell her friend how often these occasional bouts of fancy occurred for her. Her pride, what there was of it, wouldn't survive. And she wouldn't want to hear how often Ginny fantasized about such things. She shuddered a little internally. "But Ginny-You and I...We don't stand a chance, you know that right?"

Ginny flinched. "What do you mean?" she asked, her tone plaintive.

Luna struggled to find a kind way of explaining this, "Ginny, what do you really know about Harry, the real him? What do you have in common with him?" she offered gently.

"Well, I suppose we both like Quidditch?" Ginny offered a touch lamely.

"And?" Luna prayed for her friend that that wasn't all she had. Sadly the silence was telling. "You really don't know him well enough to know anything more there might be do you?" She shook her head, ignoring Ginny's mildly humiliated expression. "But that wasn't what I was trying to explain." She looked sadly to the redhead. "Ginny, out of all the potential girls at Hogwarts, who do people assume is dating Harry?"

The answer was obvious and clearly Ginny thought it was too, judging by the speed with which the response came. "Hermione…"

"And why do they always assume that?" Luna asked, leadingly. Ginny grumbled and muttered but apparently still ran through the same list that was running through Luna's head.

"I see your point," the redhead admitted petulantly.

Luna nodded sympathetically. "So you see, me and you, we never stood a chance, because he's always been taken. Ever since his first year." She chuckled ruefully. "Though I would be surprised, knowing those two, if the two of them had ever figured it out," she noted fondly.

Ginny grasped one of the few straws of hope she had left. "But-Hermione's been giving me advice!" she protested. "She's helping me so I can get to know him better…"

Luna nodded. "That is because Hermione is kind. And, unless I am incorrect, she believes Harry doesn't see her that way," she explained patiently. They sat, Ginny a touch grimmer than before under the tree. Eventually Luna sighed. "I would miss him if he were to leave..." At Ginny's quizzical expression she elaborated. "He was always kind to me, even when I confused him. He never once called me loony…" She sighed wistfully.

Ginny winced, she had been guilty of calling her that before. But pressed on. "How do you plan to find out what he's up to?" she asked with interest. Luna had odd ways, but she always seemed to manage. Perhaps she could do what others could not.

Luna shrugged, "I don't know, not yet. But I'll figure it out," voice soft but determined. Continuing in the silence of her own head, ' _Because I refuse to allow life to take more from me. It's time I stop letting it pass me by'._

* * *

Harry had never been to an airport before, and so had no real idea what to expect. He'd not even really had a chance to see such places depicted in movies. Harry had honestly been expecting to get through customs and just walk onto the plane. Instead he got to enjoy the splendour that was an airport passenger lounge. Filled with, as ever, sleepy and unwashed travellers and surly airport employees. The employees, of course, could be forgiven. After all, they had to deal with obstinate travellers all day every day.

Harry was currently sitting patiently, waiting for Hermione to return from one of the small shops in the Heathrow international terminal. It had been...hard, watching Hermione say goodbye to her parents. Neither she, nor they, had any idea when they would see each other again.

Even when he and Hermione eventually returned, whenever that might be, it would be increasingly dangerous to associate with him. It would devastate her, and by extension him, should any harm befall her family. So Harry had done the only thing he could think to do under the circumstances; he'd asked them to stay out of the country as much as possible. He had even provided a portion of his funds to ensure they did it. Hermione had been taken aback, but grateful. Her parents had been hesitant, but had understood. They had promised to see about leaving the country for a time in the near future, citing they had responsibilities they could not just drop at a moment's notice.

After the tearful goodbyes, the two teenagers had proceeded with the rest of the swarming masses to the counters and checked Hermione's trunk and the animals in their carriers. That they hadn't experienced any trouble as a result of trying to transport a foul tempered cat, a snowy owl and a trunk which was bigger on the inside than the outside was a curiosity that they had discussed for a time as they wandered the airport. Hermione had theorized there might be muggle-oriented charms built into trunks and imbued in familiars to allow them to go largely unnoticed. Though neither she nor he could prove it.

Customs and security, as was always the case for every traveler ever, was an irritating but necessary evil. Their passports had been checked and triple checked before they were finally allowed through. They had received a raised eyebrow at the "sticks" they carried on their persons but nothing more, once they had been examined. Harry thought he saw one of the agents wink.

It had then occurred to Hermione, as the wandered the concourse, that they didn't have much to do on the flight itself. True, first class should come with plenty of amenities, but considering they had a long journey ahead of them, they weren't really eager to take the chance of getting bored. So she had wandered off in search of supplies, leaving Harry to ponder other things.

Such as the fact that he had no real idea what kind of shape the properties around the world were actually in as such. He had a disconcerting image in his head of a version of the shrieking shack with feral critters living in it. On the plus side they'd be able to use magic to effect repairs.

When Hermione returned she was ladened down with what looked like half the store's inventory. She had bags of magazines, books (of course), and snacks. Along with a portable DVD player with headphones, movies, and a spare battery pack and power adapter. Oh, and two of those strange neck pillow things… She had looked rueful when he held it up confused.

"Sorry, I kind of got carried away," she apologized looking sheepish.

Harry had handled it with equanimity and shrugged. "Well, you know what we'll need better that I do. Just how long is this flight, anyway?" he asked curious.

She shook her head. "It'll take us the better part of a full day, though I can't say I remember what the actual flight time would be. The first flight will take us to Toronto, I think, then we'll switch to a smaller plane for the flight to Churchill," she noted absently.

He flipped absently through the movie selection and paused considering the titles. Oy….it was going to be a long flight.

* * *

Tonks stumbled into work, still half asleep, about an hour later, feeling and apparently looking a bit like the living dead, judging by the expressions on her coworkers faces when they spotted her. "What's the matter, Tonksy? Wake up on the wrong side of the bed?" Dawlish had joked. Tonks responded to that with the death glare it deserved.

"Shut it, John," Hestia Jones snapped, making her way over to her and handing her another cup of coffee.

"Mmm…. coffee...," Tonks groaned blissfully taking a gulp. It burned all the way down but she didn't care.

"You still on the Floo department case?" Hestia asked, once Tonks had deposited her extra gear at her desk. "Haven't heard any progress from down there yet, but then again, I'm not assigned to that…"

Tonks shrugged. "Last I knew, yeah. Not surprised they haven't, I have no idea how those guys can claim they're getting anything done in that mess." She remembered the haphazard piles of parchment, many of them half toppled or covered in the wax from burned down candles. "Sorry, I'll catch you later, Hestia. I've gotta check in and see if they've actually managed to dig anything up," Tonks apologized as she straightened and made her way to the door.

The Floo office, as was true for many Ministry departments which had been intentionally filled with bottom feeders and rejects from the other offices, had been hidden in one of the deeper sections of the seventh floor, which made it essentially the ministry's sub basement. Tonks stepped into the elevator and rode it all the way down before winding through the side corridors, until she eventually found her target, just in time to watch one of the Aurors drag a petulant looking employee out of his chair, growling.

She sighed as the office worker started caterwauling. Her day was looking less than promising. "Alright, that's enough. Dawes what the hell was that about?" she demanded as she stepped up and pulled her man off the employee, allowing him to regain his feet.

Dawes shook her off but didn't have another go at the man. "This… loyal ministry employee has had the audacity to spend the entire night bitching and moaning about being kept here when we've just found out he has been criminally neglecting his duties." He gestured at the mess around them. "You see this mess? We won't find any paperwork explaining outages or maintenance, because guess what. There are none. He and his staff haven't been logging them in for over a year now." He growled. "And that means, there's no way to tell who shut off the Director's Floo last night."

"Figures," grumbled the employee. "Some higher up is upset they're Floo isn't working right, so the Aurors get sent down here to rough us up." The purpose of the investigation hadn't been released outside the Auror office yet. Questioned employees hadn't been told why they were under investigation yet, just that they were. "What does Umbridge want this time? Another favour for one of her friends? Free Floo travel internationally?" he demanded.

Tonks blinked at him. "Umbridge?" She asked confused. What did the demon toad herself have to do with anything?

"Yeah, that's who sent you isn't it? She's constantly on us to cut costs. Shut down this hub to save costs for this department. Allow this call for free. _Of course_ we don't have any paperwork, she won't allow it. It would mean anybody with records clearance could find out she was doing people favours. Guess we screwed something up though, if she's got you down here."

Dawes and her looked at each other in dawning comprehension. "And...last night, did she call for another favour?"

"Huh? Sure she did, wanted hub 238 shut down for maintenance, said they'd been receiving complaints," he muttered, getting to his feet. "You know, this is police brutality. I could have you charged."

"No, you really couldn't," Tonks growled. "Especially if what I suspect is true. Tell me, does hub 238 happen to cover a section of London? Say, South Kensington?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Sure, why?" Without a word the two Aurors came to a silent agreement, and grabbed him under the shoulders, hauling him with them as they returned at speed to the DMLE offices. They only continued the conversation once he was in an Auror interrogation room.

"Because you doing favours for the Undersecretary just made you an accomplice to a terrorist attack, idiot!" Dawes snapped. "She's been having you do this for how long?"

The employee stared at them for a few moment, mouth hanging open. "You're kidding?"

"No, we're not. Director Bones' apartments were attacked last night and her Floo was shut off," Tonks growled. "Now are you seriously telling me you have no records of these… requests, from the under secretary?"

The employee peered at their deadly serious expressions and decided discretion was the better part of valour. "Uh-well I mean, sure. Just in case you know? I figured she was just-saving her friends a bit of money here or there…" he offered lamely.

"Any idea who these friends might be?" Dawes asked sharply.

"Uh-not as such? You might be able to figure it out if you can figure out why certain areas were down or free at certain times," he theorized.

"Thank you, you've been very helpful," Dawes noted sarcastically before hustling with his fellow auror out of the interrogation room and firmly closing the door behind them, ignoring the floo worker's plaintive cry of 'what about me?' and turning to Tonks. "So, what do you figure?"

"I reckon we need to take a closer look at Umbridge. She's a heinous pain in the arse, but she isn't exactly the Death Eater type. At least not the marked kind. She'd never risk her neck that way. Possibly she was just doing favours for someone else, and they used the opportunity to help their real boss…" she speculated, then glowered at the employee who was peering at them in supplication out of the small window in the interrogation room door. "Either way, we need to brief the Director before we proceed any further. Fudge won't let his favourite boot licker get hauled in for questioning by a couple pavement pounders like us."

Dawes was clearly thinking about the mountain of political crap they were going to need to dig through and climb over in the near future. "You know, sometimes I hate working here."

* * *

Madam Director Bones, was sitting in her office, sorting through the never ending mountains of paperwork that filled her desk. Technically it was her break, not that there were many people who could force her to maintain a specific schedule for such things. The reason she was still ploughing through this mountain of parchment was that she had a lot of work that needed doing if she ever hoped for her home to be livable once again. Not to mention the issue of making the place safe again too.

The sole benefit, if it could even be called that, of being the last adult survivor of a once prominent family was that she had the funds necessary to do something about all this.

Susan, the only other member of her family to remain, was passed out on the couch that Amelia had transfigured out of one of her office chairs. She was still unwilling to let her niece out of her sight. The poor girl had finally become tired enough to sleep, despite recent events.

Amelia peered suspiciously at the fine print on the contract offered by the goblins for rebuilding and upgrading the house wards. Goblins were tricky when it came to finance. The had absolutely no compunction against taking ever knut they could reasonably expect to get from you on a deal.

This drudgery of bank statements and contracts was finally interrupted by a hesitant knock at the door. She sighed, setting down her quill and sending a quick silencing spell towards the sleeping Susan. "Come."

It was Tonks who poked her head in the door. "Uh-Ma'am, do you have a minute?" she asked, sounding uncertain.

This was it, the moment of truth, would Tonks be staying with them, or would she be turning in her badge? "Ah, Miss Tonks. May I ask how your meeting went last night?"

Tonks winced at the directness of the question and the pointed way Amelia had used a reference which did not make note of her job title.

"As well as could be expected, they were...annoyed I resigned, but I did it anyways, ma'am. So did Hestia…" she ventured.

Amelia nodded, "Yes, she was already in here," she agreed. She noted the lack of reference to Shacklebolt from either of them.

Tonks wasn't done though. "Er, right. So I came in as soon as my rotation started this morning, and I went down to check on the progress of the investigation down in the floo office…" she ventured, hoping that they could just get back into working as usual.

"Yes, and?" Amelia asked, privately hopeful they had a lead to run down.

"Aannnd I walked in on Auror Dawes coming this close to punching out one of the employees." She noted the director's wince and sigh and hurried on. "Yes ma'am, however we avoided further escalation and uh… there might be mitigating circumstances considering what we found out."

"And that would be?" The Director trailed off expectantly.

"The employee admitted, somewhat unintentionally, that he, and others in the department, have been doing favours at someone's request. Favours which included things like shutting down Floo hubs to save costs over night and taking down others for repairs," Tonks explained, a bit of excitement seeping into her tone.

"And would I be correct in assuming one of these outages included my apartment last night?" she pressed in turn.

Tonks nodded readily. "Yes ma'am. But we haven't had a chance to cross check outages with other attacks yet."

Amelia pointed at her, "Do that, but may I ask who he's been doing favours for?"

Tonks grimaced. "Undersecretary Umbridge." She nodded when the director swore and palmed her face. "My thoughts exactly ma'am. According to our accidental whistleblower, it's been unofficial policy to do what she asks and record none of it, and it's been going on for a while. It was his impression that she wanted these done as a favour for a friend of hers…"

"But, you can't bring her in for questioning without more backing," Amelia guessed.

"Correct, ma'am," Tonks said nodding stoically. "We knew Fudge would cry foul if we even entered his office unexpectedly right now."

Amelia nodded, for the first time in a good day and a half smiling. "I'll see to it myself, Tonks. Good work."

Tonks felt a bit better at her boss' praise. A small victory in what had been a string of defeats recently.

* * *

Dinner at the Lovegood house was a sad, quiet affair. Xenophilius Lovegood could tell something was wrong with his daughter, but he had long since passed beyond his comfort zone when discussing personal matters with her. He'd always assumed Pandora would be around to handle female matters. And even before his wife's death had added distance between him and his daughter, Xeno had never had the best interpersonal skills. So they sat in silence, Xeno contemplating his latest theory on the Rotfang Conspiracy while Luna kept her thoughts to herself.

Her father had tried to ask what was wrong, but it had rapidly devolved into his typical nonsense the moment the conversation had turned serious. His leading theory on Harry's disappearance was the Dibblethorpe Confederacy. That had effectively put a halt to Luna's efforts to explain her concerns and feelings on the matter.

It was a sad reality that the explosion which had claimed her mother's life, had claimed most of her father's sanity. And, considering some of the creatures Luna saw, but which no one else could, she couldn't help but think that she hadn't come through the experience completely unscathed. Pandora Lovegood had been a gentle, but brilliant woman, constantly pushing the bounds of magic in the hope of bettering their world. Sadly, when one pushed against something as ephemeral and complex as magic, it had the nasty habit of pushing back, sometimes fatally. Luna never did learn what it was her mother had been researching that had resulted in her death. Pandora had been unusually close mouthed about it, and had kept no notes except a small pad with a single equation on it. One that Luna had failed to decipher thus far, despite her best efforts. Her mother had been brilliant, but in the end, she had reached too far, and whatever it was she had grasped, had grasped her back.

Luna had been the one to find her mother's body, she'd been instructed to hide in the cellar should there be an accident, and she had, but eventually her fear for her mother had overridden her fear of getting in trouble, and she had ventured out. The world had taken her mother from her, and in turn taken her father. Now it sought to take the first good thing which had happened to her in years. It was intolerable, unacceptable, and she would not allow it. Not without a fight.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** As ever, thank you to my awesome Betas/psuedo-coauthor-thingamajiggers Temporal Knight and Bearmauls. Without them...well, there probably wouldn't be a story.

 **Recommendation of the Week:** "0800-Rent-A-Hero", interesting story which is fairly different from anything else I've read. On hiatus right now. Maybe if you lot poke the author enough he'll get back to it eh? Sorry to the author if you're reading this, I've just set the internet hordes upon you. Hopefully they don't have axes, torches or sharp implements when they find you.


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note:** Well, as I'm having to rework things a bit to make them read better, I'm gonna need to slow the update schedule somewhat. It'll now update every Monday, until otherwise stated.

 **Reviews:** As ever, reviews are greatly appreciated, but are not required by any means.

* * *

 **Chapter 7:** **Who Hunts the Watchmen?**

Amelia sat with a thump, causing her chair to drift slightly backwards on its casters, and let out an explosive breath. In a mostly-thankless job that didn't have a lot of good days, today was turning out pretty well.

They'd managed to track down the source of the security breach fairly efficiently, in part due to the incompetence of corrupt officials. Something which the Wizarding media, for reasons Amelia couldn't fathom, described as shocking. As though they weren't well aware that Umbridge was crooked as a corkscrew and hadn't been among the many to benefit from it? It was a fairly inelegant attempt on their part to distance themselves from their wayward patron.

The DMLE had hauled in Umbridge, practically kicking and screaming, before an emergency session of the Wizengamot, and questioned her and the Floo department employee extensively. All despite the decidedly suspect protests from various quarters of the wizarding world's chief legislative body.

If Amelia were being honest, the trial had been almost comical. Umbridge had managed to get herself labeled in contempt of court no less than three times during the questioning of the other witness.

This had resulted in her, once again, being bound, gagged and deposited face down on the floor of the courtroom until it was her turn to be questioned.

The only reason that Madam Umbridge's own interrogation had gone better was that she was put under the influence of Veritaserum. Not that it had improved her disposition much. Instead of shrieking and shouting, she had been calmly and almost proudly forthcoming about her bigotry against non-purebloods. That she had then admitted to being firmly in the pocket of those who felt the same as her came as no great shock.

It was revealed, as they pushed further into the questioning, that she'd arranged the Floo shut-down as a favour to the Carrow family. A minor, but haughty Pureblood house, currently without a Wizengamot seat of their own, but with enough money to buy votes on their behalf whenever they pleased. Umbridge had admitted that she'd been hoping to get their support for a bill further marginalizing what she referred to as "Undesirables."

She'd been found guilty in an almost unanimous vote and sentenced to Azkaban.

As a result, at this very moment, Carrow Manor was being raided by the Auror Corps. Amelia was hopeful that such a surprise strike would net the DMLE some results.

What had been most offensive to Amelia about the whole sordid affair, was the complete disregard shown by Umbridge and her confederates for those she endangered. The woman herself had blatantly admitted to endangering wizarding families in the South Kensington sector of London for the sole purpose of currying favour with a party she had reluctantly admitted to suspecting of being in league with known terrorists.

Her allies had, of course, attempted to stymie any efforts to nail her to the wall. Ironically, it was not them who had proved the biggest roadblock in their efforts. Dumbledore had, on multiple occasions, attempted to divert the flow of investigation to suss out what Amelia might know of Harry Potter's whereabouts.

She'd been able to stonewall him each time. But, in the end, she'd been forced to threaten the man with censure if he could not stick to the topic of the trial.

So now, here she sat, satisfied with her day's work, as she poured herself a drink. It was funny, one of the things she was most pleased with today was the way she'd been able to bring both Tonks and Jones back into the fold. It had been Tonks who had broke the whole case for them, so as a reward, and as a chance to further prove herself, she had been assigned command of the raid of the Carrow residence.

Amelia tossed back the small tumbler of firewhiskey and glanced towards the waiting room. Susan was getting antsy with being cooped up so long, but Amelia couldn't risk her going far right now. Not only might Voldemort supporters try for her, in retaliation for their losses that night, but Dumbledore would likely try and corner the girl for questioning if she were out from under Amelia's aegis.

It was a sad state of affairs, she noted with a grimace, when the supposed "Leader of the Light" was almost as much of a pain in her arse as the corrupt politicians.

* * *

Tonks shifted nervously from foot to foot as she stood in the shadow of an old oak, trying to avoid the worst of the rain falling in sheets from the sodden grey sky.

She and the other Aurors assigned to this raid were standing at various points just outside the ward lines for the Carrow Estate, warrants for their arrest in hand. They had severed all communication in and out of the residence prior to allowing the Wizengamot emergency session to let out. The Judges were more than aware the Carrows had friends in that room.

The Carrow estate was…obscene. The place was absurdly luxurious, especially considering the Carrows had no official source of regular income, conveniently excluding them from income taxes. They _claimed_ to live off a substantial inheritance from their parents.

Tonks snorted in derision as she eyed the massive estate, with its recently expanded premises, stately gardens and gilded facades. There was no way they had afforded all this on an inheritance from a minor noble house.

The reason they were hesitating at the estate's ward line was that the plan called for entering the grounds undetected, thus Tonks had ordered a "quisling" of the house's wards, particularly those concerned with apparition. It was a difficult operation to pull off without alerting the residents.

A "quisling" was the process of reversing transport wards target criteria to trap the owners inside their own protection. In most cases this course of action wouldn't even be a viable option. Tonight however their breaching team had discovered the Carrows had been cheap when it came to security expenditures.

Had these wards been Goblin made, or even constructed by a reputable wizarding corporation, they would have reacted violently to such an attempt to subvert them. The aurors would likely be picking bits of breaching team out of the trees for weeks.

These wards, however, were black market prefabricated specials. Useful if one's primary concern was to avoid excess costs or paperwork. Not so useful for actually keeping yourself or your properties safe.

So here she stood, standing in the shadow of a tree looking over the grounds of the Carrow Estate, next to a ward cracker, who was ever so carefully working to twist the ward's rune scheme against its owners.

And finally, as the rain was starting to leach the warmth from her skin despite the charms on her to protect against the cold, the breacher gave a muttered confirmation the job was done and shot her a thumbs up. They were a go.

Tonks pushed off the tree and stood up straight, raising her wand overhead. She muttered an incantation and a bolus of roiling red energy rocketed into the sky before bursting into a small nova of white light. She didn't wait to see the others move out, because she was breaking into a run and dissolving into the twisting mists of apparition, leading the charge.

Tonks slammed out of it a moment later on the doorstep of Carrow estate. Hopping the distance from the perimeter like this allowed her and her rapidly arriving team to bypass the traps and barriers no doubt set around the grounds.

The other auror teams rocketed by overhead, crashing through the upstairs windows in a thunderclap of sound. Her team would breach and clear the manor from the ground up while those above worked their way downwards to meet them.

"The door's warded!" Tonks warned, shouting to be heard over the pounding rain, pointing out the runes etched into it's surface. "Prepared for combat breach!" She levelled her wand in time with the others and began tearing at the defences.

Reductor curses pelted the door and the wards fizzled under the barrage before giving out with a pop. A final curse, an overpowered Reductor from Tonks herself, crashed into the metal door and exploded it inwards, the shattered fragments pinwheeling inward on boiling blue vortices of magic.

The aurors waited only a heartbeat for the blue glow to fade before poured into the now thoroughly shredded entrance hall of manor. Tonks wished desperately to break formation and chase off in pursuit of the sounds of combat she heard echoing down from above, but she had her own job to do, and she'd do it. This was her first active-duty command. She _had_ to do well, by the books, if she wanted to see another one within ten years.

The red-robed magicals flowed out through the first floor of the manor, trench coats swirling around them as they stormed from room to room. The only tense moment in the procedure occurred when they burst into the kitchens and startled a cowering family of house elves. A particularly brave or foolhardy old elf launched himself at them with a frying pan, croaking a battlecry. Thankfully the small, wrinkled old elf was pretty close to blind and had missed her rather spectacularly. The resulting confusion this caused allowed them to talk the poor elf around, with the help of his apologetic family.

From there, Tonk's team moved up to the next floor, as the sounds of battle began to fade above them. As they made their way through and up to the third floor, the fighting stopped entirely. They found out why as they poured into a thoroughly blasted drawing room.

The Carrows were down, bound and gagged on the now somewhat less than plush carpet. Tonks noted with relief that, while a few of her team were sporting wounds, all of them were alive and well.

She nodded to them all briefly before stalking forward towards their captives. She knew what she was about to do was strictly speaking against procedure, but she announced she was going to search them for weapons, ignoring the protests that they had already been patted down.

Tonks just raised her eyes at a now flabbergasted junior Auror as she jerked down Amycus' sleeve revealing the Dark Mark. She pushed to her feet and brusquely made her way to the other bound captive, repeating the procedure and revealing the mark again.

She straightened and offered a grin at the team now almost fully gathered in the room. "Good work tonight you lot, clear the house again and search for evidence."

Tonks was about to hoist the Carrows to their feet for transport back to headquarters when a worried looking Auror returned to the room. "Hey, Boss, you should see this, I think?"

* * *

According to the map playing on the screen in front of Harry, the plane was now passing over Quebec, and was about two and a half hours out of Toronto. He couldn't be more grateful. He was sore, he was stiff, and he was tired. Getting off the plane and transferring during the layover would be a welcome chance to work out his muscles. He still was faced with a question as he considered the map, however. "You know, I didn't realize how empty Canada would look," he observed to Hermione, who was reading one of the books she'd picked up in the duty-free shop back in London. "I mean, England looks lit up like a Christmas tree compared to this,' he gestured out the window, to the mostly dark landmass below.

Hermione looked up from her book and nodded. "Well, Britain has been settled for a lot longer than Canada," She shrugged. "And Canada has a population roughly half that of the UK in a space roughly forty one times that of the entire British Isles. Most of the population is centred on the border with the United States. Can't say I blame them, most of the country is technically arctic or subarctic."

Harry blinked and then chuckled. "Right, do you literally know everything at this point? Because, I swear, I could ask you about astrophysics and you'd know it from back to front…"

Hermione blushed, she knew that had been in jest, and took it as such. But, as usual for her, the witch answered seriously, "No, not even close. I prefer to think of it as knowing a little bit about a lot of things…"

Harry held up his hands. "It's okay Hermione, I wasn't criticizing, it's impressive."

She nodded and they sat in silence for a time allowing him to further consider the map. "Merlin these flights are long…"

She grimaced and shifted with a wince before admitting ruefully, "I know, I keep getting up for the bathroom, not so much because I need to go, as that my bum has fallen asleep again…"

Harry tried not to think about Hermione's backside, somehow mentally ogling her even in passing like that felt disrespectful to his friend. He sighed, nodding. "How many hours left?"

She looked at the clock on the screen. "Eight I think, that's including the stopover in Toronto."

"Sod…" Harry breathed leaning his head back on the seat.

"Language, Harry," Hermione chastised. It said something about how much she agreed with the sentiment that it lacked any kind of real heat.

* * *

"What do we have?" Tonks barked, as she marched into the chamber concealed in the manor's basement. The Auror who had led her down pointed at what was possibly the biggest freaking door she'd seen outside of Gringotts. Judging by the runes etched all over it, and the wall it was built into, it was warded to hell and back.

"A door."

She sighed. "Yes, I can see that. Any clue what's inside?"

He shook his head ruefully. "Not a one. But I can tell you this. The place has air ducts running into it…" He noted pointing to the ruined conduits overhead.

"A safe room?" She asked.

He shared a doubtful look with her. "Kinda hard to reach from the rest of the house, yeah?" She nodded in agreement.

"Can you get it open?"

He nodded, "Get me the breachers and curse breakers and we might manage it."

"How long?"

The auror pursed his lips and considered, before shrugging. "A few hours? The door looks scary, but it's not as bad as it could be, I think…"

Tonks favoured the door with a dark and suspicious look. She didn't trust a hidden door concealed in a terrorist's basement. Who knew what was behind it? "I'll get them," she agreed and hurried back out leaving the other Auror to stare at the door speculatively.

* * *

They were over Ontario now, flying north this time, towards their destination, in a much smaller plane, after departing Toronto.

Harry hadn't gotten much sense of the city, given how little he'd been able to see from the airport. Just another big city, like so many others. Almost like a colder lakeside version of any number of rainy British cities. It had, nevertheless, been a welcome reprieve from the cramped confines of an airplane.

Harry, for his part, was actually in the midst of pondering the latest movie they'd watched. One of the Tolkien mythology. He felt a mixture of admiration and skepticism for the film and felt the need to comment on what he'd seen. "You know…I don't consider myself an expert on such things," he ventured, "but I've seen the Goblins at Gringotts…and I have to say, I'd swear none of them were that ugly." He considered that. "Or tall, or evil."

Hermione cracked one eye from where she was dozing and peered at him accusingly. "You do know that the people who wrote that story and made that movie have likely never even heard of real goblins right?"

He nodded thoughtfully, cheerfully oblivious to the mental cursing the girl next to him was doing. "Right….what about the elves?"

She sighed explosively and rolled over. "Go to bed Harry…"

* * *

Tonks shifted forward on her feet as another pin holding up the now decidedly less magical door was carved away in a small shower of sparks. They hadn't been able to secure the Carrow's cooperation with opening the door, they'd used the opportunity to attempt to lawyer up.

As she had been unwilling to simply blast their way through the wards and into the room beyond, they were forced to cut their way inside the old fashioned way. That had been the last piece holding the door in place. She signalled a pair of Aurors forward as the ward crackers scuttled out of the way with their tools.

The pair levitated the door off it's now wrecked frame and hinges, dropping it to the floor with a clang. Tonks ventured forward cautiously, her wand out, searching for any additional security that might spring on her as she stepped through the smoke and peered into the room. When she was finally able to comprehend what she was seeing, she let out a low and heartfelt swear. Then spun on her heel and jerked a thumb over her shoulder motioning the others forward.

"You lot get this sorted out, and someone get me Director Bones…."

It was roughly a half hour later when Director Bones arrived in the shattered entrance hall. "Hello, Auror," she greeted, stepping over the shattered remains of the door. "I see you subscribe to the Alastor Moody school of breach and clear," she noted with a wry smile. Tonks offered an amused smirk in return, before sobering. "Now then, your message suggested it was urgent?"

Tonks nodded and led the Director deeper into the house. "Yes ma'am, if you'll step this way?" She explained a bit as they passed a rather distraught house elf trying to put the corridor they were passing through to rights. "You are aware that the Carrow twins claim to live off a substantial inheritance and therefore make no income?"

Amelia nodded, "Yes, and I don't believe it for a minute after seeing this place," she said, as they made their way downstairs.

Tonks agreed. "Well, it definitely appears they were lying through their teeth. They've been trading in illegal product and were actually using their own estate as a base of operations."

"Oh, what product?" Amelia asked curious.

Tonks paused a looking a little green. She shook it off and grimaced. "People, ma'am," before starting off at a brisk pace and leading a startled and appalled Amelia behind her down into the concealed warehouse.

As they passed through the shattered vault door, Amelia got her first glimpse of the pens. Rows and rows of cells, like the prisoner block in a penitentiary. Each with its doorway pried open and each still occupied by a cowering prisoner, many being attended by a DMLE medic. Ideally the prisoners would have been allowed out of their cells, but the confined space of the makeshift prison did not allow for it. "Well…shit," breathed Amelia taking in the sad state of those incarcerated here. Tonks nodded in bitter agreement.

"Near as we can tell," the younger witch explained, as they paced down the rows, nodding to an Auror who was passing out blankets on the way, "ninety percent of them are muggle. Every last one of them is female."

Amelia bobbed her head in understanding, she'd already noticed that. She'd also noted an appalling number of them appeared underage. "The remaining ten percent are witches, with the exception of one there at the end. A Dwarven female."

Amelia blinked surprise at that. "Really?" Dwarves were, by and large a reclusive lot, even those who dwelled above ground and had forsaken their old ways.

Tonks nodded. "Yes, and judging by the tattoos she's _clanned_ , so you know what that means…"

Amelia blanched. A clanned dwarf was one who dwelled in one of their concealed underground settlements. It also meant she would be missed, and unlike a surfacer her kidnapping would be considered a crime against the Dwarven kingdom. "There's going to be hell to pay. Has she given us a name?"

"Not exactly. She gave us a clan name and then shut up on us. I'll forward the message to one of our contacts in the Kingdoms so we can bypass the liaison office," Tonks offered. That was probably a good idea, Amelia reflected. The Goblins and Dwarves hated that they were addressed through the ministry department which handled "magical creatures." That, and reporting they had found a kidnapped kinswoman from the kingdom would only heighten their ire. Nobody smart wanted angry dwarves. They might be short, and lack what was commonly called magic, but they were tough, utterly merciless to their enemies, and lethal with hand weapons. Many a wizard had underestimated them and ended up in pieces.

She would let Tonks handle that. "Is there any chance that they weren't trading these people for the obvious reason?" Amelia asked, as she tried not to stare at the stocky, tattooed woman sitting with the blanket wrapped around her as she glared darkly out at them.

Tonks nodded. "I've got a man looking through the ledgers we found now, but it appears they were mostly for the sex trade. With the exception of those they couldn't shift in a timely fashion, of course. Near as we can tell, those were traded to blood farms."

Amelia shuddered. Blood farms serviced blood magic users, and the various Vampire families exclusively. Anyone who had been sent to them was as good as dead. "Is there anything that will help us find those they've already traded? Any chance of we might save a few more?"

Tonks hesitated. "Maybe… Our guy found another ledger, but it's been enchanted to be unreadable without a code. High end protections, it's likely a record of buyers. At least that's what we're hoping…uh—" She hesitated again.

"Yes Auror?" Amelia asked raising an inquisitive eyebrow at her subordinate.

"There is one other thing. You asked about the people here…"

"Please don't tell me they have more places like this…" Amelia groaned.

"Not sure. The ledgers were unclear, but they suggest they have another warehouse…" She saw Amelia's go on gestured and ploughed ahead. "It looks like it's on the London Docks."

"And, therefore, right on the Ministry's doorstep," Amelia completed with a sigh.

"Yes ma'am," Tonks agreed, she, for one, was glad political problems like that were still above her pay grade, that was a headache she didn't want.

"Are you feeling up to another raid?"

Tonks nodded agreeably. "Yes ma'am."

Amelia nodded relieved. "Okay. Have your people round all these up for the healers and mind healers. If we have to call in the ones at Saint Mungo's…"

* * *

Harry carefully reached out and gave Hermione a tentative shake. She blinked groggily at him. "Hey, 'Mione, we're almost there."

She sat up a little and stretched, Harry tried to ignore her curves as she did so, not entirely successfully. "Oh?" She leaned over to peer out the window, still blinking sleep from her eyes. She looked a touch disappointed to see nothing but darkness. "Huh, I guess we're not going to see much at this time of night…"

The plane tilted slightly and there was a crackle over the intercom. "Good Evening, passengers, this is the Captain speaking. We are ten minutes out from Churchill. Local time is 8:00 P.M. and it is currently a chilly…" Harry tuned out after that.

Harry wracked his brain, trying to figure out the time back home, before giving up the game and asking Hermione. And she wrinkled her brow, trying to compute that math in her head on so little sleep. "Dunno, it's the third of July I think…" she ventured tiredly, her voice slightly slurred. "We're almost a quarter of the way around the planet from London."

Harry groaned. "Okay… Remind me, why didn't we just use a portkey, again?"

Hermione gave him a wry look. "Well, for one thing, we never even spoke about doing so. But, if you need a better reason, all international portkeys are monitored and recorded by the ministry of both the arriving and departing nations. So, unless you wanted to just put out a great big sign telling Fudge, Voldemort, and Dumbledore where we're going…"

He nodded. "We had to do it the old fashioned way. Got it."

* * *

Amelia was standing behind her desk examining where her hands were fisted on its surface. "So," She started and glanced around at her Aurors. "Anyone care to explain to me how the Carrows managed to get away with this for who knows how long, while still being so stupid as to use black market prefab wards?"

Tonks cleared her throat. "Best bet is that Alecto let Amycus handle the 'mundane' side of things. He's known to be the less intelligent of the two."

Kingsley, who had returned recently, explaining his resignation from the order, snorted. "She still thought it was a bright idea to house this all on her own property."

Tonks nodded. "Yeah, well, sad thing is, they probably would have gotten away with it if not for the incident with Umbridge."

"Any indication of how long they've been running this thing?" Amelia asked.

Tonks bobbed her head tiredly. "Not yet, their lawyers insisted they be present before we..." she paused to stifle a yawn, garnering a chuckle from the others, "question them," she finished, smiling ruefully. "You just know Fudge would jump all over us if we did an end-run around the Carrow's lawyers and ' _harassed such upstanding pureblood citizens'_ " Tonks finished, with a vindictively nasal impression of the sitting Minister.

Amelia smiled blandly. "Go home, Tonks. You've had a long couple days." Tonks nodded and padded out without further ado. Kingsley indicated he wished to ask a question again.

"May I ask, ma'am, what did you two find out in that warehouse?"

Amelia shook her head tiredly, "I think we'll cover that in the trial," she suggested, her tone woeful. "Some things don't really bear repeating too many times."

* * *

Harry and Hermione stood in line with everyone else, unaware that, back across the Atlantic, Tonks was just stumbling into her flat. They were experiencing the monotonous joy of waiting for the cabin crew to open the doors and allow everyone out, their belongings slung over their shoulders or tucked under their arms.

Finally, there was a clunk and Harry felt a sudden cold draft flow through the enclosed cabin as the door was opened and the plane's atmosphere was replaced with that of their destination. He shivered and cocked an eyebrow at Hermione. "Guess this is the place. But I think we forgot something..."

She looked to him expectantly. "Oh?"

"This is northern Canada," he noted, and indicated the passengers pulling on coats.

She looked at them for a moment, and very obviously fought down a curse. "Well...great."

* * *

A good half hour or so later, Harry stared at the clerk behind the desk in consternation. So… You're telling me they'd normally insist on quarantining our pets for over a month?"

The clerk noted the shellshocked appearance of the youth and smiled sympathetically. "Yup, your owl, anyway. The cat has less stringent regulations," he agreed happily.

"But, we don't have to do that?" Harry asked hopefully.

"Nope, familiar magics prevent parasitic infections," the squib customs agent agreed. "It's kinda my job to make sure magicals who travel the muggle way don't get held up or cause a fuss over stuff like that." She pushed the two cages over the counter to the two teenagers.

"Why do they quarantine the animals?" Harry asked vexed.

The squib chewed her cheek idly. "Well, the way I hear it, concerns about avian flu are a big factor. Plus, Environment Canada doesn't want the ecosystem getting shot up by introduced species. We've got some endangered creatures in this area in particular, who could be susceptible to foreign parasites or pathogens. Heard security had to chase off a..." She glanced at something behind them. "Ah-Now as much as I'd like to discuss this further, the nice customs agent over by the door is giving us funny looks and I don't want to have to summon the obliviators if he comes over here again… He's funny enough up top as it is."

A few minutes later, Harry and Hermione, pulling their luggage from the baggage claim with them, stumbled out into the evening air. Hermione trailing behind a bit in exhaustion, apparently she really didn't travel well.

Two things struck Harry as they did so. The first thing he noticed was that it had apparently gotten even colder outside while they collected their luggage and familiars, as it was when they first landed, and second…There were pictures and models of bears everywhere. "You know, I think the locals like bears a bit more than is usual."

Hermione nodded, "Polar bears, the town is somewhat famous for them. Churchill is far enough north, and near enough to water, that they move past here seasonally..." She muttered casting her eyes about.

Harry hadn't actually expected a response and smiled cheekily at her. "Oh! Are you actually awake? I had assumed I was being followed around by a sleepwalker." Hermione groaned at his attempt at humour. "Well, it's that or, judging by that groan, a zombie of some sort."

"Erg... brains…" she groaned, then dissolved into tired giggles leaning on him.

Harry considered her with a measure of concern. "Now, I know you're about to pass out on me, but just let me get you into a car first," he noted dryly as he flagged a taxi, then proceeded to give a start of surprise when a SUV pulled up.

The window rolled down, and the cabbie stared at them expectantly. "Can I help you, sir?" he ventured after a moment of them looking blankly back at him.

"Uh—Does this cost any more than a normal taxi?" Harry asked uncertainly.

"No, sir."

"Alright, then yeah I suppose so," Harry agreed, and the Cabbie, apparently a friendly sort in a coat hopped out of the vehicle and hurried around to help them pack the trunk into the vehicle's boot, although the Canadian called it a _trunk_ , silly colonials.

"So, where are you two from?" He asked, his voice somewhat muffled by a balaclava, as the luggage slid in and he took in the bird in the cage being slid into the back. Oddly enough, this was one of the few places people actually went where Snowy Owls were common.

"England." Harry reported as he straightened. "Just got in off a long flight…"

The cabbie chuckled, "Ha, better you than me my friend." The two exhausted teens slipped into the back seat as he slid in himself. "Well, in case nobody bothered to properly greet you, welcome to Churchill."

* * *

Amelia gave the old man a dark look as she tucked a sleeping Susan back in on the couch, before throwing up a double-sided silencing ward and motioning Dumbledore to her more uncomfortable chair. "Alright, _Headmaster_ ," she put a sarcastic emphasis on his preferred title, "What is it this time?" Dumbledore had managed to corner her and Susan on their way into the office, and she couldn't put him off again.

He looked at her imploringly. "Amelia, I can't stress the importance of this issue enough…"

She cut him off with a gesture "Believe it or not, Albus, I have more important things to be dealing with than your unhealthy obsession with Harry Potter," she growled.

Dumbledore puffed himself up indignantly "You must trust me when I say…"

She snapped a little at this. "No. I am required to do nothing of the sort. Harry made your failures in regards to his welfare painfully clear, Albus. I won't be helping you find him."

Dumbledore glowered. "Amelia, Harry's complaints are those of a petulant teenager, we must put them aside for the greater good."

She glared at him sharply. "Really? So it's like that, is it?"

The headmaster apparently took this to mean he'd achieved the upper hand. "Yes. Now, Amelia, I really must insist…"

"Albus, I will tell you this. The purpose of his visit was to get out from under your thumb. Why? Because you have _horrendously_ mismanaged that young man's life. I have confirmed many of his claims already and I am looking into others as we speak. Now, I want you to leave me and my family alone, Headmaster. I do not know where Harry is, or what his future plans are."

Dumbledore peered at her, his eyes accessing her shrewdly. "Very well, Amelia, thank you for telling me," he surrendered in disgust, before whirling and heading for the door.

She waited until he was nearly there before calling to him. "Have you called the session of the Wizengamot?"

He paused. "Yes, Amelia, I have."

She nodded, and shuffled some papers on her desk. "Good, I'm posting my most trusted Aurors to watch the Carrows until the trial. Please try and ensure it happens in the near future would you?"

He nodded soberly. "It is scheduled for the day after tomorrow."

"Good, I'll see you then. Good day, Headmaster."

* * *

The Cabbie peered at the town's small hotel on doubtfully. "You sure this is the place you want to stay?"

Harry nodded. "Yes."

"If you say so," the older man said shaking his head. The hotel was pretty much the only place of the sort in town, but Harry didn't know the address for the Potter house off the top of his head, and with Hermione asleep, he decided to just grab a room at the local hotel.

It took a few minutes for Harry to haul the luggage and cages up the steps, and then purchase a room, allowing Hermione to continue to sleep in the back of the cab a bit longer. The cabbie was kind enough to stick around for a bit. Apparently, demand wasn't exactly high in this little town so late at night.

The problem, if such it could be called, came when he tried to rouse her after he'd paid the cabbie. She just rocked slightly breathing softly, dead to the world. In the end, he decided on scooping her into his arms and carrying her up to the room.

He was struck by a thought which made him chuckle. _Funny, when I imagined one day carrying a girl across a threshold I imagined her being awake…_

* * *

 **Author's Note:** As ever, thank you to my psuedo co-author/beta thingy extraordinaires Temporal Knight and Bearmauls. They do fantastic work.

 **Recommendation(s) of the week:** "What we are fighting for" by James Spookie. An interesting tale about what would happen if Dumbledore's plan had instead been to prepare Harry from birth for the task ahead of him. And just to keep things interesting, my other recommendation is "Reunions are a Deleted" by Bob regent, sadly unfinished, and likely never to be finished due to a feud between the author's as I understand it. This story is a Stargate/BSG crossover dealing with a religious fundamentalist 12 colonies who believe Earth needs to forcibly be integrated into their society. Pretty intriguing just, as I said, woefully unfinished.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note:** A guest reviewer noted that "it's not that freaking cold in Canada in the middle of July! Even in Churchill!" This is true. To an extent. Generally it is not that cold in the middle of July. But two things of note in response to that. A) We do occasionally have freak summer snow storms here in Canada, not often, but they happen, and B) These are two people who are used to the weather the UK is favoured with during that season, they're not going to be happy campers that far north during a freak snow storm. Just figured I'd note that, seeing as it is a fair comment, and I'd explain my reasoning a little.

 **Reviews:** As ever reviews are greatly appreciated but by no means required.

* * *

 **Chapter 8: Searching, finding, and Polar Bears**

Hermione awoke slowly, her rise to consciousness hampered somewhat by the warm feeling across her body. At first she assumed Crookshanks had again taken to sleeping on top of her, as he was want to do when it was a bit cold. But as she shifted she found that the feeling was actually coming from the copious number of quilts and comforters covering her.

It was enough, that when she went to sit up and look around, in the hopes of figuring out just _where_ she was, that the extra weight required her to fall back and try again before sitting upright.

It took a minute for her eyes to properly adjust to the dim light, however once they did it soon became clear from the spartan decor and layout of her surroundings that she was once again sleeping in a hotel room. Which was confusing to the still sleep befuddled teenager as for the life of her she could not recall actually arriving at a hotel.

The room around her lay in a quiet hush, empty and cold. The bed across from her's showed signs of having been slept in but she couldn't see hide nor hair of Harry. Nor could she hear the sounds of anyone puttering about in the bathroom.

She struggled to sit up a little further and the blankets which had thus far clung stubbornly to her fell to lay about her waist. She blinked down at herself for a moment, she was despite being in bed, still wearing what she had yesterday. This was not something which Hermione usually allowed to happen so she was able to hypothesize that she must have been truly exhausted before clambering into bed last night.

She grimaced at the pile of blankets on her lap before shoving it about trying to extricate herself, only to be surprised when a ginger streak of fur launched itself out of them and rocketed across the room with a startled yowl. She winced and apologized in a hush as Crookshanks gave her a filthy look before settling on one of the cabinets.

Sliding out of bed now and placing her feet on the cold hardwood floor of the room she examined her surroundings again. The room, such as it was, was cramped, even with only two beds and a bathroom. She shivered slightly and rubbed idly at her shoulders, she hadn't realized it before, covered as she had been, but it was _really_ cold here, even indoors it seemed.

She gave a start at a scrabbling noise followed by some clicking from the door, she turned just in time to see Harry push the door open and step inside. He noted her presence absently before laying the things he was carrying down on his bed, turning briefly to hold open the door allowing Hedwig to swoop through.

She took in his rosy cheeks and slightly laboured breath as he undid an unfamiliar coat he had donned. He glanced at her for a moment before hanging the coat on a hook by the door. "Sorry for leaving you alone like that, I didn't expect you up quite yet."

"What time is it?" she asked curiously, looking about for a clock and coming up empty.

Harry checked his watch, she vaguely recalled him changing the time on his watch when they arrived at the airport last night. "Nearly ten, but you were up pretty late last night…" He trailed off uncertainly taking in her still somewhat ruffled appearance. "I brought you some things."

She looked over at the pile of goods he had deposited on the bed. A jacket just like the one he had been wearing, and a tray with several dishes under plastic covers.

Hermione nodded, smiling thinly and waving a hand at his notably lightly covered bed. "Thanks for lending me your blankets."

He smiled a touch roguishly. "Well, when I woke up this morning you were shivering, I could hear your teeth chattering. I tried turning the heater up, but the thing doesn't seem to like me." He scowled pointedly at the small machine affixed to the wall beneath the window.

"Thank you, but you know Harry, you could have just used a warming charm," she pointed out.

He slapped his forehead in exasperation. "Right, I keep forgetting, we're free and clear out here. Silly of me really…"

She just smiled fondly pacing towards the food on the bed, waving to indicate it. "Anything good this morning?"

He shrugged slightly setting himself down on the edge of the bed. "It's not bad, just breakfast food really. Though the cook tried to sell me on going over to his brother's butcher shop and buying some seal meat."

"Seal?" she asked surprised.

He nodded steadily, untying his shoes. "Apparently, it's some kind of staple around here according to him." He paused to uncover the plates and pushed the lot over to her. Without a table in the room she had to settle for setting the tray on her lap before tucking in. Harry was right, it was just breakfast food of the sort she'd find easily enough back home. There was a steaming cup of hot chocolate, and a plate laden with bacon, eggs and fried potatoes.

She picked at her food for a while before catching his eye again and waving to the room around them. "So, I take it you didn't know the address to your family's place?"

He shook his head. "No, sorry. Luckily the room wasn't too expensive, things are dead cheap around here."

She snorted in amusement. "I bet, the Canadian Dollar is worth a fraction of what the Pound is." She shrugged philosophically. "It may be just as well actually, I don't know if the taxi would have service reaching out that far beyond town." At his quizzical look she continued. "From what I saw on that map back in England it's located a few kilometres out of town as I recall."

Harry hummed softly in acknowledgement as she returned to her food. A few minutes later she spoke again. "So, what do you want to do first? Go to your place, get a start on tracking down that car's maker, or maybe see the sights?"

Her friend couldn't help but chuckle. "Already seen the sights, what few there are in this town anyways. Place is smaller than most neighborhoods are back home." She nodded agreement, the map had indeed indicated the place was fairly small. Harry shrugged settling back on his hands. "Besides. I don't think this is somewhere we want to stay too long."

She looked up to him sharply, concerned. "Oh, why's that?"

Harry's chuckle alleviated much of her concern right then. "Well, besides the bitter cold, and the lack of anything to do, the place is apparently close to _infested_ with polar bears. While I was waiting on your food I watched some police chasing one off of a dumpster it was trying to turn over."

She blinked in surprise, then leaned forward eagerly. "You saw a polar bear?" she asked enviously. Such animals were unheard of in the British Isles, and were pretty spectacular creatures from what she'd seen on the teli.

He nodded, amused by her enthusiasm. "Yes, big sucker too. Never seen regular animals that big before."

She considered that. Despite her admiration for the animals in general, she understood just how dangerous they were; a good reason not to stick around indeed. "Alright, what about the locals though, are they friendly?"

Harry nodded. "Sure, very actually."

She huffed a sigh. "Well that's something right? Why do you think your parents had a property all the way out here?"

"Haven't the faintest," Harry said with a snort. "Not sure why _anyone_ has a place out here to be honest. All I know for sure is that it's left over from my dad's parents…"

She nodded, remaining silent until she'd swallowed the last bite of her meal. She then turned her attention to finishing her drink. "Do you know what the vehicle we're looking for looks like then? Perhaps we could ask around and see if anyone saw it?"

He nodded, a slight smirk twisting his lips. "I don't have a picture or anything, but apparently it was a bit of an eyesore. Big black escalade with a pink dragon painted on the side."

Hermione had to stifle a snort of amusement. Such vehicles were not terribly common in England anyways, but add the paint job? "Some people have no taste I suppose. Though I guess that'll make it a bit easier to find, I can't imagine there are many of those around here."

She finished off her hot chocolate. Harry stood and indicated the bathroom. "If you're wanting a shower, the water is actually hot, though it's still a bit of a rude shock when you get out again."

She considered that, if it had been anyone but Harry talking she would assume they were giving a subtle hint that she was in bad need of a wash. Still, it had been a while longer between showers than she normally went, and if they really had some proper hot water? "Yeah I'd better, you don't mind waiting around?" she asked.

Harry shook his head and then flopped onto his back on the bed. "Not at all, take as long as you want."

A few minutes later, and true to Harry's assertion, it was indeed a very rude shock getting out from under the water. The cold just seemed to permeate everything here.

She received another shock, though of a different sort while she was getting dressed, the small window in the bathroom looked down over the vacant lot out back. It was then that she spotted a distinctive, and very large, white bear sneaking, in as much a hulking beast like that could sneak, towards an unsuspecting dumpster.

She shook her head as she pulled her sweater on over top. "Welcome to the great white north…" she muttered.

* * *

Halfway around the world, Tonks was enjoying her day off. The first she'd had in a long while honestly. What with the usually busy schedule of Aurors, and the fallout from the battle at the Department of Mysteries, she'd done without for far too long. Madam Bones had been kind enough to offer her today off as a reward for her work on the Umbridge/Carrow case.

She'd actually been enjoying it, reading and resting for the most part, and likely would have continued to do so had it not been for the hesitant knock at the door.

She got up slowly, grumbling slightly under her breath. It just figured, hardly ever did anyone bother coming round her place, so of course they had to roll on by the one day she had to herself.

She padded to the front door and peered through the hole, before murmuring a heartfelt curse, and pulling the door open. There standing on the landing outside her apartment door was Remus John Lupin, perhaps the third to last man on the planet she wished to see, eking out a position just behind Snape and Voldemort.

Tonks stared at him, admittedly a touch more frostily than perhaps he deserved, "Please tell me you're not here looking to bring me back to the Order?"

He looked a touch chagrined, his eyes casting downwards. "No…"

"Then why are you here Mr Lupin?" she requested stiffly.

He sighed, rubbing nervously at the back of his head. "We were just wondering if you had perhaps heard anything about Harry's whereabouts—"

She had to restrain the urge to snarl. "And just _how_ do you think I would have heard anything?" she snapped irritably.

He shrugged helplessly. "I don't know, I just hoped that maybe you had heard something we hadn't."

She snorted derisively, shaking her head in disbelief at the man's gall. "You know damn well the only way I might come by a _clue_ about Harry's whereabouts is via madam Bones." She pointed out angrily and he looked embarrassed. "So, let me see if I've got this straight. You _aren't_ here looking to get me to come back to the Order. Instead you _are_ here in the hopes I'd spy on my boss for you instead?"

Remus actually looked startled at that, and fervently shook his head. "No, Tonks I swear it's not like that…"

She cocked her head at him, analyzing his expression and tone, before nodding sagely. He seemed sincere enough which led to a more likely conclusion. "Mr Lupin…Remus," she sighed tiredly rubbing at her eyes with her fingers. "Did you even _want_ to come here in the first place?" She took in his expression and nodded at the answer shown there. "So, this would be Dumbledore's idea then eh?"

"He's just worried about Harry, Tonks—" Remus defended a touch reproachfully, and she had to fight down the urge to visibly display her disdain for the old codger in question, Remus practically worshiped the ground Dumbledore walked on, it would do no good to fight over the matter.

"Just—get out of here, Remus. If you're seen here I might very well get fired," she pointed out coldly.

"There's no reason to believe…" Remus protested.

She cut him off with a gesture. "It doesn't matter if I'm being watched or not, as it is I'll have to report this just in case."

"Aren't you worried about Harry?" the werewolf asked sounding a bit upset.

She nodded easily. "Yes, however that doesn't mean I'll be reporting anything to Dumbledore."

Remus sighed settling back on his heels. "Look—Tonks, I didn't mean to…"

"Mean to what?" She asked tiredly, her mind running through the possible answers. _Didn't mean to hurt you, to push you away?_

"Put you in a difficult position," he finished to the disappointment of the woman across from him.

She shook her head grabbing the door, preparing to close it. "Far too late for that Mr Lupin," she said wearily before closing the door in his face. She waited until she heard the footsteps departing before turning away.

It was too bad, it hadn't been that bad a day up until then.

* * *

Hermione leaned slightly on the counter of the gas station looking intently at the attendant. "So, you've _actually_ seen a vehicle matching this description?"

The man behind the till, Donny according to his name tag, nodded sagely. "Yup, came through town on it's way somewhere last spring, hard to forget a butt ugly monstrosity like that honestly," he said scratching at his beard idly, before shrugging. "Appeared again a week later and got loaded onto one of the cargo ships that come through occasionally as I recall."

He shot her an apologetic look. "Don't know much more really, Jeff Heinz'd probably be able to tell you more."

She cocked her head at him expectantly, oblivious to Harry wandering the store behind her. "And he'd be who exactly?"

Donny nodded understandingly, "He runs one of the local tourist traps, you know one of them lot that run those big armored buses for the polar bear tours?" She nodded agreement, there had been advertisements everywhere for the things, and they'd even seen one trundling it's way along the edge of town on the way to the little gas station. He continued, "The place is right on the edge of town, you can't miss it. You know, I vaguely recall he was telling me something about the thing a while back…Can't remember that part too well, something about knowing the mechanic who worked on it?"

He chuckled in amusement, "Though who knows what kinda loon would ship someone a ride like that all the way up here just for a mechanic. Rich folks are nuts I tell you."

Harry, who had wandered back over to listen privately reflected that it was likely because whoever this "mechanic" was, they were likely magical and could make modifications others couldn't. The kind a friend of his family might have been able to make?

Hermione nodded, paying for the hot chocolates they'd purchased in addition to the information. "Thank you, you've been very helpful."

Donny just nodded amiably. "No problem, have a nice day you two."

They stepped outside a minute later and Harry spoke up after taking a sip. "So…I realize this place is pretty damn small, but I think we're going to want transportation, unless you fancy walking everywhere in this?" he asked indicating the snow around their feet.

She grimaced. "Yeah, I know what you mean. How about we see about that once we talk to this Jeff Heinz he was talking about?"

They looked back and forth up the road at the snowy landscape about them. They'd placed warming charms on themselves in addition to donning the winter jackets Harry had purchased, but it did surprisingly little to help. "Blimey it's cold," Harry muttered as they started off down the road. His grandparents had to have been insane to purchase a place out here.

* * *

Tonks grumbled incoherently to herself as she stepped off the elevator into the headquarters of the DMLE. Mostly what she was doing was alternately cursing both Remus Lupin and the Order of the Phoenix as a whole. She had been hoping to just relax this evening but she'd meant it when she'd told Remus that she'd be reporting their meeting.

So, like a good little copper she'd trotted into the office on her day off to make a report in person. Once getting permission from the Director's secretary she knocked hesitantly at the door. There was a muffled murmur beyond the door before a voice called out to her. "Come in?"

She entered cautiously peeking around the door, there sitting at the Director's desk eating dinner were both Amelia and Susan Bones. It did not however escape her notice that it was not a utensil in Madam bones hand, but a wand. Thankfully when her boss saw who it was she lowered the wand to the desk again.

"Ah, Auror Tonks, care to join us?" the woman asked indicating an open chair across from her.

Tonks cringed slightly at having interrupted her boss' evening meal. "No thank you ma'am. I've already eaten." She shot the woman an apologetic glance.

Her boss didn't seem particularly perturbed. "Alright, so what brings you in on your day off Auror?"

"Uh, I had a bit of an incident earlier this evening ma'am and I thought you'd want to hear about it." The pink haired woman explained, at the Directors gesture to proceeded she hurried onward. "The uh—the Order showed up at my apartment. Well, one of them at least."

Madam Bones nodded understandingly. "Ah, I assume they wanted you back then?"

Tonks shot a look at Susan before clearing her throat uncomfortably. "Uh…no offense intended to your niece Director, but are you sure you want me talking about this in front of her?"

"Susan is aware of the Order in general terms Tonks, after all her parents and uncle were in it. As for anything else…perhaps refrain from actually naming any others you know to have been associated with the group in question?" the older woman suggested, picking at her food.

"Ah, okay then. Um—One of the Order members showed up and was asking questions. They claimed they weren't looking to bring me back, but they were asking if I knew anything about Harry's whereabouts…"

The reactions were subtle but interesting to observe, Susan's eyes flicked to her aunt's, before she returned pointedly to her meal, and Tonks' boss set down her utensils again, her movements a bit stiff.

Tonks carried on as if she hadn't noticed. "I told them I didn't know anything, then told them to get lost. They must have known that the only way I'd know anything would be through you ma'am—"

Amelia smiled thinly and shook her head. "Ah, so it's spying they want then?"

The younger adult nodded quickly. "That's the way I read it too ma'am. I told them to beat it and mentioned I'd be reporting it, so here I am…"

The Director considered her for a time, her hands clasped before her, eventually she nodded, her smile becoming a touch warmer. "Thank you Tonks, I appreciate your honesty. Truly I do, I know nothing about this situation could have been easy. Leaving the Order then coming to me?

"The Order, if it's anything like it was back in the day, is likely made up of good people. People who were and are probably your friends. I'm sorry they've put you in a tough situation," the Director said sympathetically.

Tonks smiled a bit wanly. "I've made my choice ma'am. Being an Auror and serving the people is what I always wanted. I thought I was helping when I was with them…"

Amelia surprised her by waving that off with a mild smile. "You were doing what no one else dared to in a time when it was badly needed, but things changed." She paused, contemplating the younger woman. "You've been doing good work Tonks, especially since you left the Order. And I want you to know something, something which I'll _deny_ should anyone ask—" She paused here to grin knowingly at Tonks. "But I'm telling you now, you are one of my best agents. You are thoughtful and idealistic, something which is in very short supply these days. Keep on like you have been, and one day I could see you sitting behind this desk."

Tonks couldn't help but feel a bit happier in response to the praise. It wasn't often Tonks got to feel proud of herself. "Thank you ma'am, that means a lot coming from you."

The answering smile was soft and understanding. "I'm just telling the truth Auror." The Director leaned back in her chair looking her over before nodding her head in satisfaction. "You know Harry too don't you?"

Tonks wobbled her head noncommittally. "I little bit ma'am. We've met a few times now. Nice enough kid from what I've seen, smart enough as well."

Amelia nodded agreement, "Yes, he is. I imagine you are also among those concerned for his wellbeing?"

Tonks nodded, but held up a hand in her defense. "Of course ma'am, but I understand that you—"

The Director cut across her. "I'll tell you this then, if nothing else. Harry is currently beyond the reach of the Order and the Death Eaters both. Even I am unaware of their current location. He is, last I spoke with him at least, happy, healthy and has a reasonable plan for his life. Nor is he alone. He is fine."

Tonks' smile widened somewhat at that. "Thank you ma'am, it is a weight off my mind." She paused, sobering slightly. "Ma'am I hate to ask, as it might come across sounding a little…bitter, but was Harry the one who told you about me and the Order?"

Amelia considered her seriously for a time, Susan giving her aunt a questioning look. Finally the Director nodded stoically. "Yes, and I imagine you are wondering why he would tell me such a thing?"

Tonks shifted uncomfortably, brushing her hand through her hair, failing to notice it had shifted in tone slightly. "Yes ma'am I do."

Madam Bones smiled thinly. "I can only tell you what I observed. Not what was actually in his mind at the time. I will tell you that Harry didn't come here intending to tell me. I noticed he got exceedingly uncomfortable when I noted many Aurors would likely be in the Order." She shrugged. "I pressured him, I admit. I explained my concerns on the issue, and he compromised with me. He told me, yes, but it was on a couple conditions. First he only agreed to tell me the names of the Aurors in the Order, no one else. Second, he ensured that only me and Susan would know who these people are and that there would be no lists or records. Just whatever was floating around our heads."

She looked at Tonks intently. "And finally, he made one request. That we use our connections with Gringotts to ward the Granger residence as he put it, 'Six ways to sunday'. He felt badly telling me what he did, but I left him little choice and allowed him a chance to protect someone he worries about."

Tonks nodded sagely, if there was one thing that would sway Harry Potter it was the question of his friends safety. Hermione would be at the very top of that list. All in all, considering his conditions and what reasons he'd supplied to the Director it was hard to fault his logic. She decided she could accept that. "Thank you ma'am, I had wondered…" She paused and cocked her head considering. "If I may ma'am, how are you and Susan holding up?"

Amelia sighed tiredly. "Well enough I suppose. It is undoubtedly a blow that our home was so badly damaged. We have had to live here since the attack as the wards on the apartment are shattered and those on the Ossuary are far out of date. But…neither of us are injured and that's what is important. We, wouldn't have known or reacted in time if not for Harry."

Tonks, couldn't help her curiosity. "Can—sorry, can you tell me about it ma'am? I mean, I swear I won't spread it around."

The Director accepted that. "He came to me for help, he had…concerns about Dumbledore, concerns which I will not share at this time. Regardless, he was hopeful that I could help him, it was while he was with me that the wards reacted to intruders. And—he sensed You-Know-Who."

Tonks nodded hurriedly understanding what Madam Bones meant, she explained. "I know that he can sense him. Though Dumbledore always played the why of it close to the vest."

Amelia nodded comprehension. "He also helped me gain Emmeline Vance's help, he knew she was outside. He then stayed and fought, despite my urgings to leave if things got too hot."

Susan spoke up then, surprising both of the adults. "I was captured by the Death Eaters. It was Harry who got me free and helped me fight. Then he tried to distract You-Know-Who to buy Aunty time."

The Director nodded. "It's likely that he saved my life at least once, if not more…"

Tonks sighed slightly chagrined. "He was there wasn't he ma'am, when I arrived I mean?"

Amelia tilted her head confirming her guess. "Yes, he was, but he was gone soon after."

Tonks felt guilty. "I'm sorry ma'am, that I ever gave you cause to doubt me."

The other woman shrugged. "As I said Auror, you were doing what you believed was right at the time. _And_ , now that things have changed you are trying to do so again by coming back into the fold. Now, Tonks, why don't you go home and get some rest? You still have a shift tomorrow don't you?"

Tonks nodded, shifting back a step. "Yes ma'am. One thing before I go? If—If I can help in all of this, will you let me know?"

Amelia cocked her head considering. "You mean with Harry? I'll consider it," she agreed eventually. "But I would not compromise his situation without his permission, and he'd need to get in contact with me before I could get that…"

The younger woman nodded. "Of course ma'am. Again sorry for disturbing your supper. Have a good evening you two." And with that she turned to leave. There was a bed beckoning back at home, and it had her name all over it.

* * *

The little bell over the door for the Polar Bear Tours office tinkled merrily as a young couple stepped through the door, causing Kate Bevans to look up from her computer where she was working on some paperwork.

Kate smiled slightly at the somewhat shell-shocked look of tourists who were experiencing real cold for the first time. It was a dead give away to someone who'd seen it enough. She brushed a lock of black hair out of her face and smiled more fully as the couple's eyes fell on her.

"Hello, are you here for a tour?" she asked as was expected, then frowned slightly. "I'm sorry but you just missed the most recent one, they set out about twenty minutes ago…"

The boy, who looked to be about her own age smiled ruefully at his companion who was busily stamping her feet and blowing on her hands trying to warm up. "Sorry we're not, we're here looking for someone actually. Besides we've both seen already polar bears digging through the trash by the hotel. That was more than close enough for us…"

She laughed in understanding, sometime you got people like these, foreigners obviously, considering his accent, coming up here for work or a school trip, but who weren't so keen to get close to the world's largest land predator, even if in an armoured vehicle at the time. "Oh, well can you give me a name, if they work here I'll page them for you?" She offered.

"Jeff Heinz?" he offered after squinting while he called up the memory.

She smiled thinking of her slightly tubby, but amiable dayshift manager. "Ah of course. Just a moment!" She turned her head leaning back to peer down the hall into the offices. "Jeff!" She smiled when he stuck his head out the door of his office and raised an inquisitive brow. Something about that expression always struck her like watching a gopher popping its head up out of a hole. She motioned him over.

The couple across the counter took Jeff's bulk with relative equanimity, briefly shooting each other an indecipherable look before turning back to them as Jeff came to a stop beside her. "Hello, can I help you?" He asked.

"Um, hi. I'm Harry and this is Hermione, we uh…We were told you might be able to help us find someone we're looking for." Harry explained. Kate thought to herself that the girl's name was interesting if a little odd, and she wondered why her parents had chosen it.

"Oh really, who are you lookin' for then?" Jeff asked tilting his head slightly looking down at them.

Harry appeared sheepish. "We don't know that precisely, just that they worked on a vehicle you should recognize, a Cadillac escalade with…"

She had to stifle a snort, what were the chances? Jeff apparently thought it was amusing too. "An obnoxious pink dragon painted on the side of it, yes. I remember it. Kate I think you might be the one to help these two don't you?" Jeff stated looking at her, amusement sparking in his eyes.

She nodded easily enough, there was after all only one person in town who had worked on that monstrosity. "So you're looking for Rose?" She asked the pair across from her as Jeff turned and trundled off again.

"Rose?" Hermione asked, speaking for the first time.

"Yeah, that'd be my mom, she runs a mechanics shop outside of town. No idea why in the hell she decided to build it all the way out there. Get's work now and then from the locals, some industrial stuff too. But every once in awhile something _weird_ comes in on one of the ships and she'll fix that up too…" She had to stifle her amusement at that. _Weird_ would be an understatement for the stuff her mom had to work on sometimes.

The girl across from her tilted her head looking at her speculatively, her eyes flicking to her…boyfriend? It was really hard to tell just what these two's relationship was, their body language was all jumbled to her eyes. "This mechanic's shop, would it happen to be about five kilometres north of town? Maybe has a…what did the bank note call it? A log cabin?" Hermione asked her friend, who just nodded agreeably.

Kate nodded, even more curious now. "That's the place, bit of a compound actually the way mom has it set up. She works out of the warehouses, we mostly live in the office building attached to the workshop. The lot has a log cabin near the back I believe, which was there when she built everything…" She snorted. "I'd have told her she should rent it out, but I don't know anybody who would want a place way out there except her. You looking to speak with her about something?" She asked plainly.

Harry nodded. "Er—yeah actually."

She considered, the pair across from her didn't look like a pair of psychos, and had been pleasant enough all things considered. "Well then, that might work out fine. I'm actually headed back home with the groceries as soon as my shift's done. If you want I could give you a lift?"

Harry sagged in relief. "That'd be really appreciated actually, we didn't get a car…when does your shift end?"

"Actually in just about half an hour, if you want to wait around…" she offered.

"Would you mind picking us up from that hotel on main street? We've got a couple pets with us we should really feed before we head out there…" Hermione asked sounding apologetic.

"That won't be a problem," she assured them.

"Uh—sorry but I meant to ask, what is your name?" Hermione asked.

She slapped her forehead lightly chastising herself for being rude. "Oh, right sorry. I'm Kate! Kate Bevans. My mom is Rose Bevans."

Harry smiled and offered his hand. "Well it's very nice to meet you Kate, we'll see you soon then." Neither of them noticed the worried expression on Hermione's face as they parted.

* * *

Luna, sighed gustily as she lay back on her bed spread, tossing the letter from Susan to the side before rubbing her eyes in exhaustion. She had been very busy the last couple days, constantly sending and receiving messages with Harry's friends and acquaintances.

Unfortunately, most of their responses were dishearteningly short of details that Luna was as yet unaware of. Ronald had barely noted his best friend's absence, giving the written equivalent of a shrug. He'd also referred to her as Loony in his letter. She'd burned that one, after tearing it into pieces in frustration.

Only her letter to Susan had received any information she had not already known. Luna had been very, very delicate in her proddings for information, hiding behind her Loony persona so as not to alarm her best lead. Especially as she was virtually certain that Susan had been asked not to divulge any information she may have had about Harry's whereabouts.

Still, while apologizing for not being able to tell her much, she had as a result of not wanting Harry's friends to worry overmuch unintentionally let slip more than she had realized.

She had mentioned that yes Harry had indeed met with them, but that they were sworn not to speak of it without his permission. However she had also mentioned that Luna was not alone in expressing concern for Harry's wellbeing.

Auror Nymphadora Tonks, not that Susan had gotten so specific as to actually use the woman's, apparently dreaded, first name. The Auror was someone Luna had heard mentioned in passing in the past, she was if she remembered correctly, Sirius' favourite cousin and was one of Harry's few relatives, albeit very distant on that scale.

Now, this information wasn't much to someone who wasn't used to puzzling away with the scantest of evidence in search of clues. One of the more useful side effects of working for the Quibbler.

However to her, it was just the information she needed. Why? Because it told her a number of things. First that Harry in fact had family beyond the muggles he had grudgingly cohabited with. Second and more significantly was this person's connection to Sirius Black, Harry's now late Godfather.

Sirius Black, by all accounts had hated his relatives with a passion, something she could not really blame him for considering what most of them were like. As such, any will he was therefore likely to write would almost certainly go to great lengths to deny them any inheritance upon his death.

His godson, and his favourite cousin would doubtless receive something in such proceedings.

Luna for her part, had never had the opportunity to actually meet and speak with Sirius Black, so she could not predict for certain just what he was leaving Harry or Tonks. She could however extrapolate a couple of likely outcomes.

First, was that Sirius Black could name Tonks as his heir, an uncommon practice considering she was female, but still possible under current wizarding law. Why? Because the law and its writers were aware of the infighting which regularly occurred within pureblood families, and were well acquainted with the notion of spiting one's relatives out of their inheritance. If Sirius had named Tonks as such, there was a reasonable chance that she would inherit the title of Godmother to Harry.

The second possibility was that he would name Harry as his heir, which was certainly more plausible in terms of inheritance rights. The likely backwash would be that he would likely see to reinstating Tonks and her family as members of the Blacks.

Either course would likely put Tonks on a path which would, at some point in the hopefully near future, lead to Harry. Thus, her best lead now, was one Nymphadora Tonks.

The question therefore was how to best approach the woman, and how to ensure that she did indeed try to make contact with Harry?

* * *

Voldemort, Dark Lord of Great Britain sat in the chair at Malfoy Manor which had become his de facto throne. He considered it a great irony, that even during his greatest and deepest state of denial that idiot Fudge had actually been in the same building as him on numerous occasions while courting the favour of the Malfoys, all the while unaware of who was just upstairs.

Sadly that time had passed with Lucius being incarcerated at Azkaban, the enchantments guarding this place from the Ministry's attention had doubled with his imprisonment. It was thanks to that and a small number of favours called in to the right people that resulted in Malfoy manor remaining a Death Eater stronghold. Though that wouldn't last much longer should Amelia Bones be elected to the Minister's seat.

He tapped his fingers irritably on the armrest of the chair as he considered this and the man struggling to his feet in front of him. "I really am most displeased Severus," he stated simply.

"Yes…my lord," The man wheezed slightly, the after effects of cruciatus.

Voldemort fought the urge to roll his eyes. "You see, a boy of such—limited talents - as you are so careful to remind me - should not be able to disappear without a trace as he has. Would you care to explain this to me?"

Snape blanched as something twinged in his side. "I know only a little my lord." He waited for the Dark Lord to wave him to continue. "I know he has vanished, I know not even Dumbledore has been able to find him. I know that the last person he was seen by aside from yourself was Madam Bones. We must, on the basis of this assume that it was she who aided him in disappearing."

Voldemort considered this then conceded the point. "You may very well be right. However while Amelia Bones hides in the heart of the Ministry she is beyond our reach….Very well, do we know why the boy has disappeared?" He paused and Snape opened his mouth to respond but the Dark Lord cut across him speculating on his own. "Perhaps he has finally come to understand he is no match for us?"

Snape was most certainly not inclined to argue in his current condition. "I am, uncertain my Lord. It was stated by Amelia Bones to the Headmaster that he had done it to get out from under his thumb…"

Voldemort leaned forward slightly intrigued. "Indeed? Curious…I had assumed the boy to be utterly enthralled by the old fool."

"As had I my lord," Snape agreed.

Voldemort paused before waving his hand airily. "Very well, the boy is of little consequence while he flees and hides. However we shall remain watchful, and we shall prepare for the next phase of our plans."

Snape seemed to fight a mental battle with himself before cursing himself and addressing his Lord once more. "If I may my Lord, just what are our plans? I merely wonder what part I will be to play in them…"

Voldemort chuckled, a not at all comforting sound. "Your part is the same as ever Severus, infiltration and subversion. As for our plans, you shall see soon enough. Everyone, will see soon enough."

* * *

Kate fiddled with the thermostat on her dash as she pulled up in front of the hotel. Strictly speaking there were several small "Inns" around town, catering to the town's disproportionate number of tourists and ecological visitors. But there was really only one on main street. Sure enough as her battered old Toyota forerunner crunched to a stop in the snow out front of the building she saw Harry and Hermione standing on the curb waiting.

What she _also_ saw was the Snowy Owl on the railing above them watching them all curiously, and she snickered to herself. She unlocked the door and motioned for them to get in. She watched both closely as they climbed in, spotting what she was looking for when Harry helped Hermione up into the back seat.

"So…" she said as they started off down the road again. "I don't know how else to say this so I'll just come out and say it. I noticed your wand Harry, you two are Magicals then?" she asked eagerly. She'd only ever met one or two others like her before these two, not counting her mom that was. Mostly it was old lady Winter, an ironic nickname for the elderly Inuit medicine woman whose name nobody except other Inuit could pronounce.

Harry and Hermione blinked at her owlishly for a moment. "Come on," she chided. "As I said I saw the wand sticking out of your pocket Harry, and besides the Owl on the porch and the cat in the window watching you kinda gave me a clue too. Add to that the fact that you're looking for mom and it's a reasonable guess."

Harry sighed. "Yeah, we are, though we'd appreciate it if you don't mention that to anybody else you meet."

She cocked her head curiously looking at him in the mirror. "Oh? Running away from something? Don't worry about it, ain't none of my business," she assured him.

"Er—Not to interrupt but, uh…how old are you Kate?" Hermione asked.

She glanced at the brunette, "Just turned Fifteen, why?" Returning her eyes to the road as they exited town, she missed the frown which crossed the other girl's face.

"You're allowed to drive that young around here?" Hermione asked skeptically.

"Well…strictly speaking, no," Kate agreed. "But the local police know me and mom well enough, and actually did some of the testing for my learners, so…as long as I only drive around town and back home, they don't seem to mind."

Hermione nodded her understanding. Harry looked to her curiously, he'd cottoned on to the fact that something was bothering his friend, she just shook her head. _Not now._

They rounded a short bend and the complex came into sight. It looked basically like any other warehouse complex in any big city around the world, a pair of large, sloped-roofed buildings with attached offices surrounded by plenty of open space and a big chain link fence. What Kate knew, that others didn't, was that the fence was enhanced with durability runes and charged with enough electricity to send a polar bear running should he get any ideas.

She spotted the lights coming from the windows of the nearest warehouse and chuckled. "Well it looks like you're in luck, mom's working in the workshop right now. If you don't mind helping me with bringing in these groceries I can go get her after everything's inside. She's probably just about finished up by now anyway." She paused and considered the two teenagers unable to shake the feeling that the boy looked extremely familiar. "Hey what are your last names by the way? I hope you don't mind me asking."

Harry and Hermione glanced at each other hesitantly, "You uh…not a word to anyone else right?" Harry ventured.

She smiled, finding his hesitance was amusing. "Cross my heart," she joked miming just that.

He chuckled weakly and gestured to Hermione. "This is Hermione Granger, and my name's Harry Potter."

Kate blinked at him for a moment, a thousand thoughts screaming through her head, and settled back on her heels, cocking her head at him seriously as she memorized his face. "Wow. You know we've heard about some of your 'adventures' even across the pond over here. Well I have. Mom was never too interested. She's not a big fan of Britain. Harry Potter eh? Must be why you look familiar...I guess I've seen your face in some papers or something," she ventured timidly.

"Oh, just the papers?" Hermione asked sharply.

"Well unless you've been here before, I can't see when else we'd have met. You two are like the third and fourth magicals I've talked to. We don't get out much. So...groceries?" she asked pointing to the bags in the back. "It's just right through that door, just put them on the front table…"

Harry nodded easily enough, Hermione stared at her a minute longer before nodding. "Sure, the sooner we get these inside the sooner can meet...Rose," Hermione said looking even more worried than before.

"Great, thanks," Kate nodded plastering a huge smile on her face. "I can't wait to hear what brought Harry Potter to our door."

* * *

Amelia was frustrated, this was often the case after a conversation with Minister Fudge. The man was an utterly ineffectual leader, which unfortunately made him highly pliable and easy to manipulate by those who dealt in such things.

She'd just spent a good half hour being harangued by the man as he attempted to force her to divulge any information she had on the whereabouts of Harry Potter. While she was certain he was doing so for his own ridiculous purposes his efforts had Dumbledore's wrinkled fingerprints all over them. A pretty blatant attempt to circumvent her protection of the boy.

She had of course refused, much to the Minister's combined horror and consternation. She'd then been forced to pull out every law she could think of protecting confidential informants and such to stop him.

He'd then changed directions, trying to get her to begin hunts for "rogue vigilantes" undoubtedly playing for favours from the opposite side of the field.

When she'd again refused him, he'd thrown the political equivalent of a temper tantrum, she'd been required to challenge him to find enough supporters in the Wizengamot to force her compliance.

He, just like her, had known full well he likely couldn't drum up the kind of support he needed if it was required to save his life if he were on fire, and the committee needed to decide whether or not to pour water on his flaming arse.

Despite managing to put off the man in both cases, Amelia Bones headed to bed with a nasty headache and a burning desire to castrate a certain nosey old man.

* * *

The last of the groceries were deposited onto the counter with an oomph. Kate smiled at her guests and clapped her hands together. "Thanks again. Do you two want to wait here while I go and grab my mom?"

Hermione and Harry nodded and moved to sit on the stools near the kitchen's island. Kate headed out the service door and into the primary maintenance bay where her mom did most of her work. Hurriedly closing it behind her so as not to let out all the warm air provided by the enormous space heaters affixed to the ceiling.

She was a little nervous, after all not only was one magical celebrity in her kitchen but he also happened to be someone she really admired. And he was very clearly British. Even after 15 years, her mother was still prickly when it came to Brits. Kate knew her father and baby brother had died there before she was even born, but sometimes she hated how her mother could get so annoyed with the entire country for the actions of a few terrorists. Granted the terrorists seemed to be making a comeback...but it still seemed a bit out of character for Rose Bevans. Kate hoped she wouldn't be too hard on their guests.

Her mother was as ever clad in her working outfit. A pair of coveralls rolled down and tied off at the her waist, a dirty T-shirt overtop and a bandana keeping her hair out of her eyes while she worked in the guts of some poor schlub's battered 4x4. Currently she was below that 4x4, standing in the depression in the floor with the vehicle jacked up on the platform allowing her to reach its underbelly. Music was pumping from an old boom box that her mother had fixed up and had sitting on the cement a few feet away.

Kate crossed the 'workshop' floor and turned down the music causing her mother to jump in surprise before extracting herself somewhat from the machine's guts. Rose took in her daughter's expression and rolled her eyes. "Alright, what's his name?"

Kate's brow furrowed before smoothing as she figured out what her mother was saying. She couldn't help but smile a bit. "Very funny, Mom. Though there is actually a guy, and he's actually what I have to talk to you about. It's not like that. Er...Definitely not like that. In fact he already seems a little bit taken."

Rose considered her before completely extracting her arms from around the axle. "Alright, hit me," she said as she took a seat on the edge of the depression.

"Right, so here's the deal, I met this guy and a girl from out of town. And something about them seemed kinda odd," Kate explained. Her mother hummed understanding and gestured for her to continue. "Well it turns out that they're looking for whoever worked on that hideous escalade which came through last spring. Naturally I knew that was you and offered to show them to you. But talking with them and spotting a couple things while I was driving over, I noticed some more odd stuff. What clinched it for me was seeing the wand the guy had on him."

Rose's eyebrows rose. "A wizard? Not too many magicals come up to this area."

Kate shrugged. "Well like I said, they were tracking down whoever fixed up the escalade. That's not really the important bit anyway..."

"Alright, hun, stop beating around the bush," Rose sighed. "What's going on?"

Kate cringed a bit. "Well, I kinda recognize the guy...he's um...he's Harry Potter."

Rose frowned. "Oh." She leaned back against her workbench. "So you're worried that I'm going to bite a teenager and his friend's head off just because he had the misfortune of being born in a country I despise?"

"Pretty much yeah." Kate looked up and clasped her hands in prayer. "Please be nice, Mom! Both of them are really nice! You totally wouldn't even realize he was a celebrity! Please be nice!"

"Wow, I must have gotten really bad if you think I'd be mean just because of that," Rose said shaking her head and grinning ruefully. "Come on, let's go see these two and find out why they're so interested in that horrible looking car."

* * *

 **Author's Note:** So that happened! As ever, where would I be without my Betas? Temporal Knight and Bearmauls.

 **Pseudo AN's:** Temporal Knight here. This chapter has undergone some large changes from the original plan but we think it's turned out much better overall. The story behind Kate and Rose Bevans will be revealed as things move along. What could've possibly happened in her past to make her so despise the UK and everything related to it? And just what does Hermione suspect? Granted, people will probably be guessing the answers to these long before the next chapter is out, but hey, a bit of mystery is fun right!

 **Recommendation(s) of the Week:** Let's see, we've got... _Sympathetic Properties_ by Mr Norrell, a take on what would happen if Harry were a little less of a jerk to Dobby from the get go. And _Heart and Soul_ by Sillimaure. A take on a Harry/Hermione/Fleur story which is quite good.


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note:** RIght, IMPORTANT NOTE: I will be taking at least one, maybe two weeks off, that is to say I won't be updating. At least that's the plan, I badly want to prevent burnout, and I've also got a family reunion coming up. I am hopeful this break will allow me to continue at more or less the pace I've managed thus far, but we'll just have to see. Alright, the much anticipated Ninth Chapter. Let's see what you make of it.

 **Reviews:** As ever reviews are greatly appreciated, though flames are not.

* * *

 **Chapter 9: Blindsided**

Amelia just about jumped out of her skin at the hard thumping someone was giving her office door. She cast her eyes down to the day planner which had been affixed to her desk, mostly in the hopes of figuring out just who she was scheduled to meet who was so unhappy with her.

The planner was enchanted such that anything written by her or her secretary would automatically show up on both copies of the schedule. Apparently, her secretary was as alarmed by the visitors as her seeing as big red letters were scrawled across the planner writing the words _THE DWARVES ARE HERE AND THEY ARE NOT HAPPY!_

She couldn't help but pale slightly at that. They had indeed been expecting a response from the Dwarves for some time; it appeared that response had finally arrived. She cleared her throat and called out, "Yes, come in please?" then stood to greet them as the door swung open a little harder than was strictly speaking necessary.

Three Dwarves, as that was definitely who these beings were, marched into the room. All three wearing the armour which was all but ubiquitous to their people, though that of the one in front was clearly more ceremonial in nature. Though she didn't let that fool her.

Dwarven armour was tough, easily capable of shrugging off all but the most intense curses entirely due to the extensive enchantments Dwarves worked into their creations. And she also knew that despite its weight that armour likely wouldn't slow those wearing it a jot.

She offered a slight smile, and bowed slightly at the waist, "Ah greetings, you must be the representative from Clan Rakhor?"

The lead dwarf, the only one of the three not wearing a helmet was a surly faced individual with pale tattooed skin, with deep black hair and beard. His grey eyes surveyed her sternly before he offered a somewhat stiff bow in return. "Madam, Amelia Susan Bones, Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement for Great Britain's Land Above." He greeted formally, his accent suggesting he didn't speak anything other than Dwarva on regular basis. "I am given to understand that you have in your custody a member of Clan Rakhor. It is the demand of my clan chief that she be released immediately or else efforts shall be made to enact sanctions by the Dwarven Kingdom."

She managed to avoid blanching at that. Though the Dwarves were largely isolated from the "Land Above" as they called it, they did trade in two very critical resources: Gold, in quantities great enough to rival what the goblins provided, and gems. Specifically the kind of gems used in a number of enchanting and rune crafting rituals. Gems which only came from a handful of deep vein lodes far, far below the surface. The Goblins preferred remaining closer to the surface for trade reasons and thus only had access to a single relatively small lode of these gems. Losing even a portion of either the Gold or the Gems from the Dwarves could easily cripple their economy and enchanting industry.

"Of course, may I say though that your clanswoman is not in fact being imprisoned - not by us at least." He raised a brow at her, though he remained silent allowing her to explain. "We recovered her from a raid site and brought her here for treatment by our medics."

The Dwarves glare didn't abate much at that, "If she is injured, then why was she not treated by your healers at Saint Mungos?"

She could understand his concern. "Her _injuries_ are limited to malnutrition, however as you likely know there is an unfortunate….bias, among some against non-humans. We brought her here as I did not wish to take the risk of her being denied or given unsatisfactory care."

The Dwarf glowered at her unconvinced for a time before nodding sharply. "If she confirms what you claim, then perhaps we might approach these matters differently. However I must insist on seeing her immediately."

She nodded and stepped out from behind her desk. "Of course, if you will follow me?" She then led the way out of the room and down through the departments offices to the med-bay on the main floor.

Currently there were only two patients in the room in question. The first, an Auror who had received minor injuries after a scuffle with a criminal in Diagon Alley. The second of course was the Dwarven clanswoman. She turned at the opening of the door and noticeably brightened when she saw who had accompanied the director.

She hopped down off the examination table and hurried over to the delegate, where she paused bowing slight with a smile before thumping a fist to her chest. Then came the surprise when she closed the distance and hugged him. Amelia was surprised at the tears in both Dwarves eyes. Their people were typically a very stoic and reserved race.

The pair eventually parted slightly, the delegate holding the clanswoman at arms length, and then proceeded to speak with her for a time in the gravelly language of their people. She spoke back and they appeared to be comparing notes, though Amelia couldn't say for certain, she didn't speak Dwarva herself.

Eventually the delegate turned to her and nodded in satisfaction. "Apologies Madam Bones. It was not an intended deception, however you should know that the clanswoman you rescued is my daughter. She went missing some months ago, and we have dearly missed her."

She nodded amiably, she could just imagine how she'd feel if that happened to Susan. "I understand."

"May I ask the exact circumstances which led to you finding my daughter?" he asked curiously.

"Of course. We had been given reliable intel that House Carrow had orchestrated an attack against myself. Upon raiding their estate, it was found that they had a fortified room in their basement. We opened the room and found your daughter among the many held prisoners there," she explained easily. "It appears that the Carrows have made a business of the illegal trade in sentient flesh."

His eyes flashed darkly. "And this was what these beasts had intended for my daughter?"

"It would appear so…"

His expression continued to darken, before he growled something clearly vitriolic in his native tongue. "I thank you, Madam Bones, for ensuring that we were made aware of our clanswoman's plight. However I'm afraid that the situation requires that I must bear ill tidings in return." He growled turning to face her more fully. "For their actions, actual and intended against Clan Rakhor, and by extension against the Dwarven Kingdom, these….Carrows are now subject of a Dwarven…well, the word does not translate easily into your language, but the closest words would be 'honourable grudge or feud', he admitted. "As such they are declared anathema, and we are required to demand satisfaction for their crimes against us."

Seeing her alarmed expression he continued. "Should the wizarding world sufficiently handle the issue, we shall look no further. However, should they fail to do so, Rakhor and by extension the Dwarven Kingdom will be forced to extend this…feud, to include the Wizarding World as a whole. The kidnapping, imprisonment and trade of a Dwarven noble clanswoman, or indeed any Dwarf is utterly unacceptable, and shows a distinct disregard by your world for those who dwell Below." He huffed a sigh, and gestured dismissively to her. "I have delivered my warning. Do with it what you will….Now, I must ask that you allow myself and my daughter to depart unhindered."

Amelia blinked in shock in the aftermath of that ultimatum. "O—of course, just follow me. I'll make sure your departure goes smoothly."

She led the way out through the building but stopped when they arrived at the doors. "If I might ask representative, just what might the Dwarven Kingdom consider a fitting punishment for the Carrows?" She needed to know so that they did not fail to meet the requirements of ultimatum.

He stopped briefly to consider her on his way out the door. "Death, the punishment for such crimes is death."

Amelia sagged as the door closed behind him, it was going to be a long night. She needed to inform the Minister of this as soon as possible. It was then that a device hooked to her belt decided to start beeping and alarm, and she cursed under her breath. A long night which was looking like it might get even longer.

* * *

Hermione laid a hand on Harry's shoulder as he set down the bags he'd been carrying on the counter. It was actually, a somewhat novel experience. As much as the Dursleys enjoyed making him do the hard manual labour they neither took him shopping for groceries nor did they allow him near their food except to cook it. Apparently afraid he might steal it from them.

"Harry, we have to talk, now, before this goes any further," Hermione explained urgently.

His attention diverted by her tone his eyes flicked to her in concern. Something had clearly been worrying his friend for a while. "Alright, what is it? Do you think we're in danger here?"

She shook her head uncertainly. "I—No, I suspect not, but I feel that you should be prepared to be surprised. If Rose is who I think she is…" she ventured unevenly.

He looked at her, concerned by the hitch in her voice. "And who do you think she is?"

Hermione hesitated, "I'm afraid to say honestly. Will—Will you just trust me, and not freak when she shows up?"

Her friend looked her over seriously. "Am I going to be happy or upset upon meeting this person?"

She shrugged helplessly. "If I were to guess…assuming I'm right, a little of both, with a bit of confusion thrown in too?"

He sighed tiredly, it was not normal for Hermione to be this circumspect about things which were clearly important. But if there was one truth in his life it was this. "I trust you, Mione, I just hope you know what's going on, because, right now? I'm confused as hell," he muttered.

She offered an uneasy grin. "I know, and I'm sorry Harry. But if I'm right…"

Whatever she had been planning to say was cut off when the door at the far end of the room opened, causing them to turn and look. Kate stepped through talking idly with a woman trailing along in her shadow.

Harry's eyes widened in recognition and he didn't hear a thing the Canadian girl said. His breath caught in his throat staring at the woman who was supposed to be dead.

* * *

Rose Bevans finished washing off the grease from working on the truck, before she followed behind her daughter as they headed back to the office space and the kitchen within. "So...did your favorite celebrity explain why he was travelling halfway around the world by any chance?"

Kate shrugged. "Hadn't gotten that far actually. I only really got his last name just before coming to grab you. He's super nice, mom. I think he and his friend are running from something though, because they asked I keep it all on the down low."

Rose nodded appreciatively. "Smart thing getting out of Britain I say. That country was going downhill fast back when I was there, and nothing I've heard since has made it sound like that has changed."

"Mom!" Kate groaned rolling her eyes wearily.

"I know, I know," Rose chuckled in amusement as she ruffled her daughter's hair. "I harp on about it. It's just really discouraging. Those arseholes killed your father and brother, and they're still walking around free to wreck other families too. If these two kids have the good sense to leave that life of fear behind, I'm all for helping them run, honey."

Kate nodded and pushed open the door back into the kitchen proper and led the way over to their guests. "Hey you two, I'm back, and I got my mom! Mom, this is Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. Harry, Hermione, this is Rose Bevans." Kate stepped aside and swept out her arms to include both the teens and her mother in the gesture. It took her a moment to realize that Harry had gone completely still and Hermione was just nodding with an expression torn somewhere between disbelief, astonishment and satisfaction.

"Mum?" Harry whispered blinking.

"What?" Kate asked, cocking her head in confusion. She looked from Harry to Rose and her mouth popped open in surprise..

Rose, was staring at Harry one hand stopped, gripping the door jam tightly and the other clutching her chest over her heart. Her face was frozen into an expression of complete shock. Her eyes had widened and her breathing rapidly picked up to the point of hyperventilation.

"Mom?" Kate asked stepping forwards and reaching out tentatively, worried at the sudden change in her mother "Are you alright?"

Rose's hands starting violently shaking and the jerking shudders quickly began to spread across the elder woman's entire body. Then, much to the shock and horror of her daughter and the two other teens, Rose screamed bringing her shaking hands to her head, doubling over still shuddering violently all over.

"Mom!" Kate cried out in shock rushing to her mother's side.

Behind her, unheard as she focused on her ailing parent, Harry shouted, "Mum!" hurrying over to Rose and Kate, Hermione following close behind him clearly startled by the turn of events.

"Mom, what's wrong?! Mom!" Kate yelped frantically, only to give a start when Rose abruptly stopped screaming and collapsed bonelessly onto the floor like a puppet with its strings cut. Her mother gave a few further violent twitches and her eyes continued to move, darting back and forth unseeing, but she otherwise had fallen completely still.

"Kate," Hermione said her voice unnervingly calm while still maintaining a strange urgency about it. "Something is very wrong here. Is there another adult magical in the area? Or a magical hospital nearby?"

Kate shook her head trying to fight off tears and panic. "N-no, no hospital. The closest proper hospital is in Ottowa, but I can't Apparate yet and we don't even have a Floo!" She sucked in a deep breath as an idea popped into her head when she considered the rest of Hermione's question. "Winter! Old Lady Winter is nearby! She's about a ten minute drive further outside of town...!"

"Then let's get her to Winter." Hermione reached out and clasped Harry's shoulder, squeezing it gently. Until now he had been completely silent, kneeling and just staring down at the woman beneath him with an odd sheen in his eyes. "Harry, I need you to help me get...Rose to the truck. Okay? Can you levitate her to the truck—Harry?"

He gave a jerk, "Hm—What?" Harry asked startled, blinked up at her seeming to focus on Hermione's voice as Kate grabbed her keys and slipped on her coat.

"The truck, Harry. I need you to levitate Rose to the truck."

"Rose? But she's—"

Hermione shook her head emphatically. "Harry, we don't know with absolute certainty exactly who she is, Harry. I have a good idea of what is happening but we need to get her to help first. Okay, come on Harry I need you focused."

He blinked hurriedly rapidly regaining control of himself. "Right. Um—Okay. Truck. Got it, right." Harry swept to his feet and pulled out his wand.

"Kate, grab a jacket for your mother," Hermione said, turning her attention to the other girl. "Are you okay to drive or do you need me to?"

"I thought you said you didn't know how," Kate said her hands shaking slightly.

Hermione nodded agreeably. "I know the principles behind driving and I have done so before with my parents. Just like you, I don't have my license and I am used to driving on the other side of the road, but if you are uncomfortable driving at this time it would likely be safer for us if I did."

Kate considered that for a moment before shaking her head. "No, I'm okay. You might freak out if we hit the snow anyway, and we really need to go fast." She pushed out the front door and held it for the the other two and her mother. Hermione draped the coat Kate held out over Rose as the woman floated and between the three of them, and before long her mother was draped across the backseat of the SUV. Kate climbed into the driver's seat and Harry got in the passenger side while Hermione climbed in the back with the prone woman; an uncomfortable fit, but it would do. Hermione pulled out her wand as she squeezed in and pulled Rose's head onto her lap.

"What are you doing?" Kate asked sharply as she pulled out of the drive.

"Just some diagnostic charms," Hermione muttered absently. "I don't know many healing spells true, but I can at least check to see if there is any sort of damage that shows up on the basic tests."

"Hermione, what is going on?" Harry murmured thickly. He had his head in his hands. Kate could sympathize with him on that account. She was really freaking confused right now and more than a touch scared.

"I'm not entirely certain..." Hermione admitted uneasily.

Harry sighed. "Then guess—please."

"I think...darn it, I'm not getting anything," the brunette scowled and put away her wand. "Harry, Kate, I think, that Rose is experiencing an acute reaction to atypical stimuli of some sort."

"Hermione!" Harry growled. "For the love of god, speak English! Please!"

Hermione grimaced, but seemed to take his tense attitude in stride. "I think, and I'm not certain here, that Rose may have been subject to a strong memory charm at some time in the past, and that seeing you has shaken things something loose in her mind. Similar cases have been reported in the past if I recall correctly."

Kate snarled. "Did you know this was going to happen? Is that why you two came here? What the hell did you do to my mother?!"

"Kate, please calm down," Hermione said reassuringly. "I swear, we had no idea this would happen. We simply came here looking for someone who we had heard worked on a vehicle using similar magical techniques to those Harry's family used in the past. Harry also has a property out here which it turns out you've been living on. We had no idea who was here prior to showing up. Even then I didn't know that this would happen when I started to having some suspicions on the drive out."

"Then what _did_ you think would happen?" Kate asked with narrowed eyes. She badly wanted to hit something right then and the girl was being so damn calm about everything; it was infuriating!

"Honestly," Hermione sighed, then shrugged. "I thought, maybe, we were going to encounter Lily Potter living under an assumed alias having retreated from the magical world after a trauma of some sort, completely lacking nearly all knowledge of recent events."

Harry groaned. "Why didn't you say anything, Mione?"

She shot him a skeptical look. "I didn't want to get your hopes up for something which was rather exceptionally unlikely, Harry. What was I supposed to say?" she asked rhetorically.

Kate fell quiet and stayed silent for nearly a ten minutes before she softly spoke again, "You think my mother and his mother are the same person?"

Hermione nodded. "Lily Marie Evans, Rose Bevans. Similar work technique. Living on an old Potter property. The two look alike, enough alike Harry recognizes her. Add to that, that she experienced a seizure or something immediately upon seeing him," Hermione said ticking off the facts on her fingers. "And I consider it extremely likely, yes."

"When you put it like that..." Kate whispered tiredly. She huffed a sigh then, louder this time, she continued, "But Lily Potter died right. It's how Harry is supposed to have survived the AK isn't it?"

"That's what we thought..." Hermione sighed nodding agreement. "I can't say I can explain that part just yet, I'm just trying to make sense of what we know. Hopefully this Old Lady Winter will be able to help your mother—maybe she can tell us more herself..."

"You said your mum doesn't like Britain?" Harry said. He had his eyes closed and was now leaning his head against the window.

She snorted darkly in amusement "More like she hates it but...yeah, pretty much. She never really told me why exactly. Judging by what little she has said, I just sorta assumed it was because my dad and baby brother died there and she left to get away from it all."

Hermione's head jerked up. "She said that? Baby brother?"

"Well, I call him my baby brother," Kate said. "He was about a year older than me I think, but those Death Eater terrorist bastards killed him and my dad while he was a baby back before I was born. Mom didn't end up having me until she was already settled here."

"Timeline would still fit then," Hermione muttered to herself.

"We're here." Kate shook her head, pulling off the road and edging into the Inuit village. She stopped in front of a small house towards the outskirts and turned in her seat to look around at the others. "Only the chief and his sons know about Old Lady Winter having magic so don't do anything outside her hut."

Hermione and Harry both nodded. Harry squared his shoulders. "We'll carry her then."

Climbing out of the SUV, Kate quickly strode to Winter's door and loudly knocked while Hermione helped Harry get Rose out of the truck. The two teens reached her just as the door to the hut opened.

"Ah, Kate? What's got you—Rose! Well hurry on then, come in, quick." The elderly woman moved back and waved the trio inside. "What happened? Who are these two?"

Kate watched Harry and Hermione put her mother down on the cot the old weathered woman indicated and spoke, "Old Lady Winter, this is Harry and Hermione. They're magicals like us." Some of the tension left the old inuit woman and she heaved a quick sigh of relief bringing out her wand before beginning to cast diagnostics on Rose. Kate continued to explain while she worked. "Mom collapsed after having some sort of seizure or something when she first saw Harry."

Hermione took over, straightening after she finished settling Rose on the cot. "It may be possible that she is under a—"

"Memory charm, smart one aren't you?" the old woman finished, nodding sagely. All three teens flinched in surprise and stared at her. The woman chuckled absently. "Come now, you don't act as the only medicine woman in several hundred miles for nearly a hundred years without picking up a thing or two kiddos." Frowning the crone-like woman cast several more charms and Rose's forehead glowed blue for an instant before fading back to her normal pale complexion. "Hmm—well, this is quite powerful, perhaps the strongest I've ever seen, and expertly cast to boot. I might be wrong but it seems to me it has entirely suppressed her original personality and supplanted it with an artificial one nearly identical in every respect to the original except in the finest details."

Kate sat down in one of the old lady's comfortable recliners with a whooshing sigh and brought her knees up to hug them tight to her chest, dropping her head into the crook left between them. Harry also sat down heavily against the wall nearby. Only Hermione remained standing. "Why didn't we find out before?" Kate whispered disbelievingly.

Winter shook her head sadly. "Well dear, I'm not exactly in the habit of checking everyone for memory charms. Besides, Rose has never been sick in any way which would warrant a deep scan of her mind which would've picked it up. Even then this is very subtle, enough so I still probably would've missed it if she weren't actively fighting against the charm like she is now. If I had to guess that'd likely be why she collapsed on you. Her mind shut down non-critical functions from the strain of trying to break through such a powerful spell."

"What do we do?" Harry asked quietly, speaking to the old woman for the first time. "How do we help? We have to help her!"

Winter was silent for several minutes as she considered her options. Finally the old woman sighed shaking her head and turned to the teens. "I can probably wake her up, and can almost certainly prevent another attack. But that method would leave her original memories and personality irrevocably lost I'm afraid. I _might_ be able to break the charm while she's out, with enough preparation. That would also effectively prevent another attack, true, however it's risky. There would be a chance of erasing most of her mind or even just all of the time after she was spelled."

Hermione sighed. "So either we completely kill Lily Potter, we leave her like Gilderoy Lockhart, or we kill Rose Bevans and leave Kate without a mother."

Harry shook his head firmly. "That's no choice. Get rid of the original memories and wake her up then. I'm not taking someone else's mother from them, just so I can have mine!"

Kate was trying very hard not to cry when to everyone's surprise the old woman started laughing. All eyes in the room turned to the old woman cackling away. "You are her son, boy? Truly? Rose's son?"

Hermione looked annoyed. "Well we're not _entirely_ certain but most of the evidence is increasingly pointing to that fact being true."

"From before the charm then?" Winter said still laughing and wiping her eyes.

"Yes. I'm Harry Potter. We think Rose Bevans is Lily Potter. My mum," Harry said narrowing his eyes at the medicine woman in confusion and irritation.

"Oh well this is too perfect! But of course it makes sense!" Winter finally stopped laughing and started smiling while shaking her head. "She started fighting the spell when she saw you. Let me guess, you look like your father?" Confused, Harry nodded. He'd been told that often enough after all. She nodded in agreement. "Recognition then. Ah, whoever cast this did too good a job of it then! By changing so few things it allowed her to link you with her old life and her mind rebelled against the false memories. Well that makes things far easier!"

Kate weakly lifted a hand. "Would someone please explain what's going on?"

The old healer walked over and patted the girl on the arm gently. "This gives us a third option, dear. A ritual using a core tenant of Rose's new life to anchor the memories from after the charm and a core tenant from her original life to anchor the memories from before the charm. I'm looking right at a son from before her problem and a daughter from after. That ought to work nicely yes?"

Hermione perked up and gasped, before gesturing excitedly. "That brilliant! If it works that would be excellent, what are the risks?"

The inuit woman shrugged. "Actually they would be rather minimal. If young Harry isn't related they increase somewhat, but considering what you've described I find that very unlikely to be a problem. The ritual itself is amazingly simple. You just never really get lucky enough to have an important enough part of both sets of memories. There's nothing more important than a child though."

Hermione nodded slowly and turned to Harry and Kate. "What do you two think?"

Kate took a deep breath, glanced at Harry then nodded to Winter. "I say we do the ritual."

Harry readily agreed, looking relieved. "Yes. If there's a chance it could work we need to do it."

"Okay then. I'll make the preparations," Winter moved to a corner of her hut and started pulling out herbs and jars from the wardrobe.

Hermione looked around nervously. "Um, Ms. Winter, how long will the ritual take?"

The medicine woman shrugged idly. "Oh only about a half hour I should think. Then another two or three for her to wake up. You can take her home right after the ritual though. I can tell you once we're done whether it worked or not and it would be better for her to wake up in someplace familiar anyway."

Hermione breathed out in relief and nodded. Harry looked at her curiously and said, "Hermione? What are you thinking about?"

"Crookshanks and Hedwig, Harry. That's all. They're back at the hotel and if we were going to be here overnight I wanted to go and get them."

Kate shrugged. "We can pick them up on the way back to the house if you want. You two are staying over. No arguments. If Harry is my long lost, supposedly dead older baby brother he's staying at my home not a hotel." She said that last part with a touch of her old roguish grin.

Harry chuckled. "Is it weird I like that title better than the Boy-Who-Lived?"

* * *

Hermione had to admit she'd never seen, or even heard of, a ritual quite like this. Oh it certainly appeared to share some characteristics with the rituals she'd learned about: semi-formal atmosphere, candles...or in this case lamps, and a ritual circle. But that was pretty much where the similarities ended.

Admittedly her knowledge of rituals was somewhat limited despite some concentrated research on her part. It was almost like wizarding Britain refused to discuss rituals outside of a very limited field of study. It was mildly distressing that the only rituals she'd been able to find instructions for in the Hogwarts library were fertility rituals for witches looking to get pregnant.

This ritual in front of them was a bit different. Rose...or rather _Lily_ as they were now virtually certain who the woman in fact was, had been moved on her cot into the middle of the room and a ritual circle had been drawn around her. A process which would have possessed a touch more gravitas had the salt used to make the circle had not been the variety the local muggles used to melt snow on their driveways.

The house's more traditional lighting had been dimmed or in most cases shut off entirely, and small oil lamps with herbs mixed into the flammable fluid had been lit in their place, giving the room a slightly smokey cast and lending a slightly earthy smell to the air.

Old Lady Winter had taken to pacing around the inside of the circle a couple minutes ago, murmuring something in a strange guttural tongue Hermione suspected was whatever dialect the local Inuit used. All the while grinding some more herbs in a small mortar like dish before igniting them with a small flick of her fingers. That had actually impressed Hermione more than she'd expected; wandless magic was difficult and that the old healer used it so casually indicated she possessed more skill than might otherwise be obvious.

She had set the dish with the smouldering herbs on Rose's chest for a minute allowing the still twitching woman to inhale the fumes for a time before withdrawing it again.

It was here, as she handed off the now mostly burnt out dish to Hermione to set aside, that the aged healer paused, straightening, and muttering to herself before allowing her expression to clear. She startled them all when she clapped and smiled blandly at them. "Alright, that's everything, which brings us to the hardest part. Not that it's that harrowing...well, unless you're afraid of knives." She allowed casually shrugging. This garnered some worried looks so she explained. "Kate and Harry will need to stand in the circle for this, I'll cut both of Rose's palms, and one from each of her children, this will allow us to mix their blood...It's all about sharing magic and sacrifice you see. Fulfills the intent of the ritual nicely actually."

She waited until Kate and Harry agreed, albeit reluctantly in Harry's case, this had produced some raised eyebrows until he'd explained. "I've had bad experiences with people using my blood for rituals in the past." Not elaborating further, thankfully this seemed to be more than sufficient explanation for those who were not familiar with his history as she was. Harry still had the scar from Wormtail's knife Hermione knew.

Old Lady Winter nodded to herself considering, "Well I'm afraid the cut will need to be done without a numbing charm or any sort of anesthetic, the sacrifice you endure through pain will make the ritual that much more effective. The good news is I can heal it once the ritual is complete, and it needn't be very deep." She held out of a knife indicating one of them should take it.

Harry reached for it first, holding the bone weapon gingerly. "Just grip the blade in your hand, it should be sharp enough to do the rest." The Inuit healer encouraged. He did so, only wincing slightly as a dribble of blood began to creep out between his fingers. He looked to her and waggled his eyebrows at her, indicating that it wasn't bad compared to some of the things he'd dealt with before.

Kate's response to gouging her own palm had been far less reserved, involving shaking her hand and cursing. Hermione found it funny how this simply seemed to amuse the old medicine woman. Taking the knife from Kate, Old Lady Winter had then carefully incised a couple of wounds onto Rose's palms. "Alright, that should do it, all I need from you two now is to clasp her wounded palm in your own. I'll do the binding and we'll be ready for the final step."

The woman waited until both teens had grasped their bloody palms to Rose's own before drawing her wand. Hermione hadn't noticed earlier, but the wand was clearly something of the woman's own manufacture, thought that didn't appear to diminish the craftsmanship. She desperately wanted to ask about it's construction, but figured it'd be better to wait.

The healer drew her wand in a complicated pattern around each clasped hand, a thin filament of flame twisted out of the end of the wand and around each hand before fading away not unlike what Hermione had heard some magical vows appearing like. Here the Old Woman smiled slightly before drawing a chair from across the room and setting it at the head of the cot above Rose. She settled herself easily enough, despite her clearly advanced age and set her wand down on the edge of the cot beside her patient. Rubbing her hands a moment before bringing her fingertips to Rose's forehead and temples and massaging. Then the chanting started, once again it was in that language Hermione could not decipher. This process stretched for minutes before finally whatever she'd been saying came to an end.

Old Lady Winter leaned down and picked up her wand before briefly bringing it to Rose's forehead and tapping it once and incanting a single word. The ritual sealed itself causing Rose's sightless staring eyes to glow blue briefly, as all at once the tension left her body and her eyes drifted shut. Soon enough the ailing woman's breathing settled and Hermione was fairly certain she'd fallen into a fitful sleep.

The elderly Inuit woman pondered her work for a moment before nodding firmly and clapping her hands on her knees and pushing to her feet. "There, it's done. The rest, is up to her."

* * *

A third of the way around the world, in a small dingy basement office beneath one of a hundred or so government buildings crowding the British Capital, sat a computer. Admittedly this computer was somewhat more impressive than the dingy little office which it filled with its copious bulk.

This machine was tasked with a very specific purpose, which was not to be officially acknowledged by the British governing apparatus. Specifically this rather large and unwieldy machine was tasked with listening carefully to every phone call it could get it's grubby mechanical mits on. Now for the most part this machine, with it's very specific task, didn't particularly care about what it was listening to, most of which was the equivalent of sophomoric gossip or the agonizingly boring day to day natterings of tens of thousands of people. What it was interested in was words, very particular and specific words which might have hinted that the conversation it was listening to might be something the local law enforcement or military would be interested in hearing.

Now on any given day the machine would hear a few of these keywords sprinkled throughout various people's conversations, but never in significant enough numbers or clusters to trigger its security protocols. However every once in awhile it would hear something which would trip the preprogrammed threshold and it would then quite blithely forward the call to someone more well equipped to judge whether or not the people were talking about a horrible catastrophe in the local news or if they were planning on causing such a catastrophe in the future.

Now, there were actually a few computers like this spread about the country, each tasked with listening for different things, and it just so happened this particular computer sitting in this particular basement office was listening for a rather odd and eccentric collection of phrases. It had been a very long time since this computer had heard more than one or two of the words, and even then it was a rare thing.

However today was it's proverbial lucky day, because this vastly under utilized, but nevertheless horrendously expensive peice of hardware hit the jackpot. Dozens of words it was programmed to listen for cropped up all at once, all in one location, thus tripping the ever loving crap out of it's programming and causing it to send a high priority message to the person tasked with monitoring such things. Had this computer been in anyway intelligent or selfaware it would have been very pleased with itself. Well, up to the point ten minutes later when a bug crawled into its innards and shorted out a critical circuit utterly ruining it's motherboard and giving it the computational equivalent of a fatal brain fart.

Still, not a bad day for a computer, especially one which had been tasked with the terminally boring task which this one had, and so it was that a particular Chief Inspector of the London Metropolitan police force got a rather odd email with a rather extensive list of keywords which had been overheard.

The chief inspector in question got these types of emails relatively regularly and always enjoyed trying to figure out just what the message over heard might have been before actually opening the recording in question.

If the good inspector had not already been in the know about what these words actually meant they might have given it up as a bad job as most of the words appeared to be gibberish. Still, given that the inspector did know what these seemingly nonsensical words meant they found themselves rather concerned that a message featured the following words and phrases: Blood, Muggle, Ministry of Magic, Aurors, Director Bones, Magic, Unholy and Voldemort.

On the basis of this rather odd collection the Inspector decided that it was time she made a rather important call.

* * *

"So...What shall we talk about?" Kate asked, once the silence which reigned supreme in the confined cabin of her truck had become too uncomfortable for the usually verbose teenage girl.

Harry, who was seated next to her in the passenger seat shot her a skeptical look and she sighed theatrically. "Come on, this silence is killing me, and if the success of the ritual is anything to go by, my mom is also your mom, so...dish?" When he remained uncertainly silent she sighed again. "Look, something simple okay, it doesn't need to be anything important, I'm just trying to get to know you a little better here, and the quiet really is starting to get to me. Like, why don't you tell me what your favourite sport is?"

Harry considered that then nodded, she had a point after all. "Quidditch, you?"

She glanced sideways at him as they continued to make their way across the sparse landscape towards town. "Hockey, not much call for Quidditch around here. You play it or just like to watch?"

"Play, I'm a-or rather I was a seeker for my House team back at Hogwarts." He admitted eventually.

"Yeah? Mom always used to talk about Hogwarts and Quidditch...You any good?" She asked curious.

He shrugged noncommittally, earning a skeptical sound of amusement from the back drawing her eyes to the mirror to see Hermione smiling. "He's the youngest seeker in a century...and many claim the best. Scares the life out of me when he flies. Especially the year before last."

Kate noted the slight blush on her brother's face and smiled. "Oh, why's that?"

"That's the year we had the Triwizard tournament. Did you hear anything about that?" Hermione asked the younger girl.

Kate shrugged. "I heard they were holding it, sounded like insanity to me, but hey what do I know. Didn't get any more details than that. News is pretty sparse up here."

Hermione nodded sagely. "Well it turns out your brother has just the sort of bad luck required to ensure he managed to get entered against his will in a tournament intended for adults."

Kate whistled wincing slightly in sympathy, glancing at the boy next to her who merely grimaced nodding. Hermione went on to explain. "One of the tasks was to sneak a golden egg away from a roosting mother Dragon-"

"What?" Kate barked, startled. "Are they insane?"

"That's what I asked..." Harry grumbled under his breath.

Hermione smiled grimly and nodded. "Quite possibly. Harry actually had an interesting strategy for it. He summoned his broom from the castle and used it to try and tease the Dragon away from the nest. Actually it was working quite nicely until the Dragon decided to just kill him and be done with it."

Kate looked sharply sideways at the boy next to her who groaned. "It broke its chains. I had to try and outfly it."

"What kind of dragon was this?" Kate asked amazed, and concerned at the same time.

"Horntail." Harry admitted shortly, as they pulled onto the street upon which the hotel was situated.

She hissed in sympathy. She'd never had formal classes in such things but she'd read plenty of books, and it was hard to read anything about Dragons without hearing about the most vicious breed of the lot.

"Harry managed to outfly it alright," Hermione noted, sounding a mixture of exasperated and amused. "He lost the dragon by tricking it into a maneuver it wasn't prepared for, ploughed it into the side of a stone bridge. Got the egg, though he was injured pretty mildly by your brother's standards actually."

"We were talking about sports…" Harry tried to cut in as they pulled up to the curb again.

"Alright alright," Kate said snickering slightly as she slid out of the driver's seat. "Hermione, do you mind staying to watch mom?"

The brunette nodded. "I can do that, probably easier than trying to move her right now."

Kate smiled wanly, she was much better than she had been, but she still wasn't entirely over the ordeal which had befallen her mother.

"So….why do you like hockey so much?" Harry asked uncertainly as he climbed out of the vehicle.

Kate laughed. "Because I get to hit people, duh!"

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Thank you very much to Temporal Knight who helped a great deal with the writing of this chapter, and to Bearmauls who was recommended I rewrite this section to better fit the story.

 **Recommendation(s):** Wand and Shield by Morta's Priest (which I'm not sure if I've recommended before) which is a hopefully temporary hiatused Avengers/Harry Potter crossover. And Harry Potter and Futures Past by Driftwood1965, something which should in theory be restarting any time now….Unleash the INTERNET HORDES!


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note:** Okay! So this took a while to get out. Not the least of which because I went on vacation. Which I really needed by the way. Also, thanks to the people who wished me well during my time off! This chapter fought me a bit, and it's not terribly long, but I'm finally fairly satisfied with it so here it is!

 **Reviews:** As ever reviews are _greatly_ appreciated, though are by no means required.

* * *

 **Chapter 10: Reunion and Confusion!**

Rose Bevans, or rather as she now was, Lily Evans Potter, first became aware of her return to the land of the conscious and aware when she began to perceive her own harsh rasping breath. The next thing she noticed was just how sore she was. Every bit of her body ached, which considering that she couldn't recall just what had caused this at that moment was concerning. Thus, as people were want to do when they found themselves in such a situation she cast her mind back in the hopes of figuring out just what multiton monstrosity had run them over.

Now had this been a case of one too many beers fogging the night before she might have actually struggled to remember the cause - that was assuming she could remember it at all. However, instead she found her mind suddenly flooded with memories and thoughts as the gates crashed open.

She couldn't help it in the face of the torrent of images, many of them conflicting and contradictory, she felt the panic begin to rise. Now many people might have experienced a moment or two where they find themselves wondering if what they are seeing is real, particularly if they have recently imbibed too much alcohol. However very few people had the distinct misfortune to find themselves with close to sixteen years of memories which were apparently both true and untrue at the same time. So as her mind screamed, that it couldn't all be real, it seized upon something, the moments prior to its recent loss of consciousness.

Lily remembered...her son? No, that couldn't be right, her son was dead. Wasn't he? She could have sworn that he was, and yet she could clearly remember him in her kitchen, with a girl she did not recognize. Just how she knew he was her son she couldn't quite say. After all her child, at least according to the memories she could recall, had been lost as an infant. And yet that was who he had to be, no one could look so much like James...

She had to know, had to know if he was real! Had to know if she remembered correctly. Had to know _what_ of all her conflicting memories was fact.

Her eyes cracked open, the faint light of the room around her blistering her headache addled brain. Still, she recognized this place...She was in her room. At least that's what she believed this place was, and-

She could hear the murmur of voices in the distance. One, a familiar hum she would know anywhere, the one she could swear belonged to her daughter. And another, similar in tone and pitch, but not in cadence, one she did not recognize. She listened to the two voices murmur for a moment before they were interrupted by a slower deeper bass, a male voice.

Kate, that was her daughter's name...She was certain of that at least. Her daughter was real, if nothing else. Surely Kate could tell her what was real? She groaned and rolled onto her side before sitting up, swaying precariously. She had to know…

She staggered upright and stumbled forward catching herself on the doorframe to her bedroom. Her legs were struggling to support her weight right then, but she managed to badger them into cooperating inasmuch as they could.

Lily staggered further into the hall and the voices slowly became clearer as she ventured onward. "So, how'd you get a Snowy Owl in England anyways? They're not exactly native to the Isles if I remember correctly…" inquired the voice of her daughter.

"Dunno, first time I saw her Hagrid-er, that's a friend of mine, was standing outside Ollivander's with her in a cage for me…" Lily could practically hear the head scratching consternation in the male's voice as she sagged against a wall to catch her breath. Why was this so difficult?

There was a pause. "What about Crookshanks, that was the cat's name wasn't it? A Kneazle mix right, did you get him from a breeder Hermione?" Kate asked, clearly desperate to strike up some kind of conversation.

There was a low chuckle from the room down the hall. "Actually no, I got him from the pet store in diagon alley...he walked right up to me, seemed to know I was meant to take him."

The male snorted in amusement. "You keep saying that, I still think he just recognized you wouldn't punt him across the room if he got too close like everyone else he'd met."

There was an offended huff and indrawn breath as Lily finally staggered into the room and slumped against the doorframe. There, in her kitchen, were three teenagers. Two, female, sitting at the table, the first who was facing her, she recognized in relief as Kate. The second, a girl perhaps a year or two at the most older than her daughter, with bushy brown hair and serious eyes. And finally, standing at the stove working over something which was filling the room with a delicious aroma was a boy, his back to her.

But even as her eyes fell on him she felt a sense of familiarity. A mop of unruly black hair she'd have known anywhere atop his head...

Whatever the serious brunette had been about to say was halted when Kate spotted her standing in the doorway and raised a hand to stop the girl across from her, smiling brightly in relief. "Mom!"

The exclamation drew the attention of the others. The girl, Hermione, that was the name Kate had used in the conversation she'd overheard, turned to look at her. Lily hardly noticed, her attention fixed upon the boy who turned at Kate's voice.

He-looked so much like James, and yet he was different too... Slightly different features though she doubted anyone who hadn't been intimately familiar with James would have noticed. But his eyes, a startling green, the same shade as those she saw in the mirror every morning.

Lily drew a deep rattling breath and pointed a shaking finger at the one she knew had to be her son. "Harry?" She breathed, "Is that really you?"

He stared at her, his eyes inscrutable for a time before he spoke. "Mum…"'

She felt tears begin to form in her eyes as the reality of it set in. "I-it's real then? It's really you?"

He turned a moment, dropping the pan on the stove with clatter before stepping back towards her. Lily for her part staggered part way across the room, her feet drawing her unconsciously toward her child. The weakness growing in her limbs caused her to stumbled and he reached forward in time to catch her by the shoulders and hold her at arm's length.

His eyes searched her for a moment, "It's me mum, I-I can't believe you're here…" he admitted thickly.

"Harry-" She lunged forward grasping him tightly to her chest in a desperate hug, afraid that he'd vanish before her eyes. At first, though she failed to notice this, he was uncertain. Still she clung to him, and after a few moments he began to ease, allowing his arms to go around her, and she wept. "My boy-My son is alive…."

* * *

Voldemort, Dark Lord of the British Isles seethed. He hated to abandon his stronghold, had hoped to avoid it if possible, one of the many hoped for benefits of killing Amelia Bones. The other candidates for Minister were so much more…predictable than she was. Most were either too corrupt or too wrapped up in notions of pureblood supremacy to ever find him where he sheltered at Malfoy Manor.

But Bones wouldn't let such notions as pureblood privilege stop her, nor could she be bought of with gold as Fudge could.

With the capture and upcoming interrogation of the Carrow twins she had forced his hand. He and his followers could no longer remain at Malfoy Manor. Not that those two would remain a threat to his causes security for long…

Still, the longer they remained here, and the longer the Carrows remained alive and in custody, the greater the chance of them being discovered was.

His faithful Death Eaters were scouring the manor house now for anything that might be of value. After all Narcissi and her whelp wouldn't be using any of it. No, he had matters arranged. Should the Aurors raid Malfoy Manor they would be left here to reap what Lucius' failure had sown. And should the Aurors not find them in time…

He shrugged mentally, then their deaths would be punishment for Lucius' failure in their own right.

He cared very little if he alienated his primary financier in all this. The Malfoy's were not the only wealthy pureblood supremacists in Great Britain, the others within his ranks would pick up the slack. There was no shortage of opulent estates and stronghold within which he and his followers could shelter. It merely…irked him, that his followers seemed to be so incompetent.

None of the new bloods he had been assured were worthy additions to the ranks had made it through the raid on the Bones residence. Those not killed had no knowledge of note of Death Eater operations, so he had little fear in that regard.

However it certainly seemed that many of Great Britain's Pureblooded scions were worthless when it came to completing their apportioned task. It was so hard to find good help these days…

He stifled what amusement he felt at that thought. These fools who called themselves his followers…all truly believed he cared for their nonsensical and self destructive traditions and culture, when nothing could be further from the truth. He only cared for power, and in the end he would have it. So why had he courted their favour so? It was simple, in Great Britain, they held the wealth, power, and influence he needed to secure his own dominance. Nothing more, nothing less.

That in the end more of these inbred fools would die than even their mud-blood and half-blood counterparts amused him to no end. Though he was not so blind as to believe such a state of affairs could last forever. No, when the pureblood's had expended themselves in this conflict he would find new, and hopefully more capable allies, and his enemies would be powerless to stop him.

He looked around what had at one time been his throne room, barely sparing the bound and gagged Malfoy wife and scion a glance. It would do no good to terry over long here. He looked to his lieutenant. "Dear Bellatrix…" He purred.

She quivered in anticipation from where she knelt expectantly before him. "Yes, my Lord?"

"I require your mark."

She immediately tore the sleeve from her shirt and proffered her forearm to him. He wasted no time, drawing his wand and pressing it to her mark. She didn't even flinch, not blinking as her mark burned on her forearm, and he immediately felt the flow of magic entering his veins and smiled.

It wasn't a commonly known capability of the Dark Mark, but on occasions in which he found himself in need, he could draw upon the magic of his followers through the black tattoo affixed to their forearm.

In this case? He was drawing the magic out of the the incarcerated Carrow failures and into himself.

Had they been kept in Azkaban, or even shielded from interrogation, perhaps he would still have had sufficient use for them in times to come. However…instead it had come to this.

A magical body, was nothing without it's magic, so accustomed to that primordial force within itself it could not survive without it should it flee. Thus, should he draw all the magic out of a captured follower such as he did now…

He smiled vindictively as he felt the flow of power slacken then halt altogether as the sources died. Madam Bones would no doubt be furious when she woke tomorrow, for without those two, what need of a meeting of the Wizengamot was there?

He stretched slightly enjoying the last gift of his erstwhile comrades before gesturing for Bellatrix to rise. "Come Bella, it is time to leave I think. Perhaps our next abode will be more permanent than this one?"

He swept out of the building, his followers trailing behind him, all the while Draco and Narcissa struggled against their bonds in vain.

* * *

Kate stepped forward uncertainly as her mother embraced her brother, it was good that she remembered him, that meant the ritual had worked...at least in part. The questions which now dominated her thoughts was did her mother remember her? And what would she do if she didn't? "Ummmm, mom? I hate to interrupt, but uh-you remember me too right?" She ventured worriedly.

Lily turned her eyes on her daughter and smiled tearfully at her, extending an inviting hand out towards her. "Of course, Katie, come here," she ordered before drawing a relieved Kate into the embrace alongside Harry.

Perhaps it was the way in which she staggered a little as her daughter lunged forward to hug her, but Harry seemed to notice then just how unsteady his mother was. "Come on, let's all take a seat. Mum's a bit wobbly right now."

Once seated Lily stared disbelievingly at her two children seated side by side next to her, finally shaking her head muzzily. "I don't understand. How is this all possible?" It made no sense…

Hermione chuckled ruefully, smiling a bit thinly at them. "That is something I'm sure we'd all like to know the details to, but the short version is that you were under some sort of memory charm. Harry showing up-well it caused a conflict with the charm and you passed out. We took you to that Inuit healer your daughter recommended and she managed to sort you out. Umm-I suppose I should introduce myself? I'm Hermione Granger, I'm Harry's friend..."

Lily murmured a greeting before getting back to the task at hand.

She shook her head, a memory charm...Who, and more importantly, why? She could think of people capable of the act, but not of a particular motive for any of them...And it had come into conflict when she'd seen Harry? Very strange.

She saw the questioning look she was receiving from her son across the table, and sought to explain what she was feeling. "It's just all so unbelievable isn't it? You, here now…and the memory charm."

Her daughter, seemed to be handling everything better than her at least, and was smiling at her long lost sibling. "How did you even find us out here? You didn't know we were here correct?"

Harry shook his head, in a negative to Kate's question, then looked questioningly to Hermione. Lily couldn't help but wonder at how often her son seemed to defer or seek the support of his friend. Just how close were these two? There was so much about her son's life she didn't know...

The girl shrugged, and he turned back to face Lily, his green eyes meeting hers. "That's…a long story. I'm more than willing to tell it, but it might help a bit if—if you told me your side of things first mum."

She nodded slowly, he undoubtedly didn't know everything that had happened that night all those years ago. It was a reasonable request. Besides it might help her figure out what had happened herself. "I assume, that it will all come back to _that_ night with you too, the memory charm must have been cast around then…" She queried, then paused thinking, trying to decide where to start.

She thought back. "When…'He' showed up that night, my husband...James, went to stall him. The hope was that I could get to you and we could flee. But James was killed, and I was basically trapped upstairs with you…" She paused, her eyes going distant as she struggled to remember. "Looking back now, I wonder if I could have done things differently. I had been researching a protective spell which had the potential to block the killing curse if charged highly enough. It wasn't prepared yet, so I did everything I could in what little time was available. I did the incantation pouring everything I had into it…and I carved that rune into your forehead."

Harry's hand was going to his forehead before he stopped it, looking surprised. Lily couldn't hide her own surprise. "You didn't know?" She hadn't been able to remember that detail until recently, but it should have been obvious to anyone competent.

Her son shook his head, "No, I was always told it was from the curse he fired at me."

Lily's brow furrowed and she considered him. Someone had been feeding him inaccurate information. That could mean any number of things. It could be that whomever he had discussed the matter with was largely ignorant of runecrafting...or had been deliberately misleading him. "Who, told you that? It should have been fairly obvious to any adult who'd passed their Runes NEWT just what that symbol was."

"Dumbledore…" Harry muttered, his tone a mixture of a question and curse which had her worried.

She grimaced uncertainly, Dumbledore...Her old headmaster, the old man should have known that. He was an alchemist, runes were used extensively in the preparation of such things... "Yeah, well no…it's not from a curse, it was me, trying to anchor the protections to you as best I could in the time I had left." She shook her head refocusing on her fragmentary memories. "It was just after I'd finished, I think, you were crying? Who could blame you after I cut your forehead like that... he found us. He broke into the room and I begged him not to kill you…"

Here she paused, noticing the way her son blanched, his hand clenching spasmodically before he shared a look with his friend. Hermione, such a strange name, unusual even for the wizarding world.

"I know." Harry admitted seeing her questioning stare.

Her headache was fairly pounding now. "How could you know…"

"I remember it whenever Dementors come near me," her son admitted looking almost ashamed as he stared at his hands.

That made her blink in surprise. "When have you been near those monsters?" she demanded. Dementors were not common creatures, especially outside of Britain. However within that nation which had once been her home they were supposed to be tightly regulated. When they weren't being walled up to contain them, liked they'd taken to doing in the last war. It was true you couldn't kill a Dementor by using force of arms or magic, but you could starve them to death. Too long without feeding and they faded away just like anything else. She'd have assumed they were all destroyed after 'his' destruction.

"Later, I promise," Harry said sitting up again running his hand back through his hair, in a way which was disconcertingly similar to the way her husband, James, used to.

She nodded her acceptance, she did after all have a story to finish telling. Memories to finish sorting... "'He' hit me with something. At the time I thought it was the killing curse, the light was green, but…I woke up later. You…were gone." She choked out remembering now, her panic at seeing his empty crib. "James was gone too, but an old man, someone familiar - Dumbledore? Was there…" She fought to regain control of herself, and so missed the odd expressions which briefly flickered across the two British teenagers' faces.

"He told me…" she continued after taking a shuddering breath thinking back. "That my husband and child were dead. That...James, would need to be prepared for burial, but that…you were too badly—well, that there was barely anything left of you. I remember thinking he looked so sad, the old man, and he told me that he thought I should leave, that the war was over, The killer-You Know Who I suppose now, was dead thanks to my actions, but that things had come at a terrible cost for me. He promised to see to burying you and my husband. I agreed, I felt so…I'd just lost everything, or I thought I had? You, my husband, my home…I wanted to die, I wanted to leave. After all what was left for me at the time?" she asked a touch scornfully as more memories clicked into place. "My sister who hated me with every fibre of her being? James' old friends, the Marauders? Remus wasn't so close considering we thought him a possible traitor...and Peter...Peter betrayed us." She hissed that last part. "I never cared to know what had happened to my husband's old friends….I couldn't remember them...why? Sirius-Remus, they would have stood by me surely? Why didn't I think of them?"

The other's shared a loaded look. Harry explained a bit. "Whoever charmed you seemed to want you to leave. If you would have stayed for Remus and...Sirius, that would have gotten in the way." She noted the hitch in his voice when he mentioned Sirius, and how he seemed to sink into a reflective mood.

Harry sighed noisily, as his thoughts strayed and his eyes filled with pain. "I'm afraid Sirius is not - with us - any longer." His mother flinched, the roller coaster ride her emotions were on today was giving her whiplash. Harry sagged and Hermione laid a hand on his shoulder and he reached up to squeeze it in thanks before looking back to his mother. "Continue with your story, I'll tell you in a bit." He murmured.

She nodded sadly, she remembered Sirius now...Though not as well as Harry obviously had. Clearly the wound was still raw for him, it must have happened recently. She still felt tears welling in her eyes and had to wipe them away before continuing. Sirius had been a good and loyal friend...To hear that he was gone. "I came here not long after, it was the furthest property from England that I knew about. I had your sister, almost didn't survive it…For a long time I could barely get myself up in the morning, but taking care of her helped me through it."

Harry nodded gratefully to the girl he now knew as his sister, something which he had not yet had time to truly accept. She merely shrugged sheepishly back at him, thinking that she hadn't really done anything.

"I didn't like thinking of Britain, and avoided hearing about it when I could, something which I now regret. Perhaps if I had seen pictures of you-maybe that would have jogged me out of it? Maybe...I have some dealings with a local Inuit Medicine Woman, and I train Kate myself as best I can when we get time, I could have sent her to Ilvermony, she didn't want to go…It's not so bad up here, well…once you get used to the cold and man eating predators."

She and Kate shared a tired chuckle at some old shared joke. Something familiar. "There's more of course, lots of little things, but that's about the sum of my end of things. Lots of little stories that you'll want to hear I hope... I just—I'm so sorry, I don't know why, but I couldn't stay after that night, that memory charm- I never wanted to look back. But if I had—"

Her son raised a hand to stall her. "It's okay, I wish it could have been different too, but we're here now."

"It's also very possible given the memory charm that you _couldn't_ have done anything except what was suggested…" Hermione noted sympathetically. Lily couldn't know it but she was remembering the feeling of being out of control when the imposter put their defence class under imperius in fourth year.

She nodded her thanks tiredly. "Can you please tell me now…Your side of things I mean. Maybe then some of this will start to make sense?"

He nodded easily. "I don't know a lot, and a lot of what I do know looks to be wrong just from what you've told me." He admitted, before continuing at her confused expression. "I think I'll start by giving you what I know of the things that led up to events that evening," he decided.

She nodded and he began to recite what he could recall. "Sometime in the months previous to that, Dumbledore had been interviewing a candidate for a job opening at Hogwarts. Specifically for the position of teaching Divination."

Lily snorted a touch scornfully at that, and received a small smile in return, he nodded his head to Hermione. "That's about how Hermione and I think of that subject as well. Anyways, while he was taking this interview, the applicant - who's quite frankly a fraud otherwise - slipped into an actual vision, the kind that gets recorded by the hall of prophecy at the Ministry."

She nodded understanding, she too was aware of that little known corner of the government. He pressed on. "She made a prediction about someone who would be able to defeat Voldemort. This normally would have been good news, except that a Death Eater had managed to overhear part of the interview, which Dumbledore had been conducting at the local tavern. The Death Eater got thrown out, but not before he'd heard a portion of the prophecy, basically all he got was the part about someone who was going to be born, who would defeat the Dark Lord, someone who was born as the seventh month died. Born to those who had defied the Dark Lord three times."

She grimaced, shutting her eyes in anguish realizing just what he was saying. "You?"

He nodded once she opened her eyes again. "Yes, or at the time it could have also meant Neville Longbottom."

Lily sagged as the implications of that hit home. "Ah, and both of our families were under threat from Voldemort and went into hiding. We were told by-Dumbledore that an agent he had among the enemy told him that we were being targeted as an example against those who would resist him."

Harry nodded slowly, clearly wondering why Dumbledore hadn't simply told them about the Prophecy. "Yes, but it was the rest of the Prophecy, the part he didn't hear, which was important. Apparently the Dark Lord would somehow mark the child as his equal, that he'd have a power the Dark Lord knew not, and that either he or the Dark Lord would have to die before the other could live. Dumbledore, he told me that my scar was his way of marking me, a lie apparently." He growled, then cut himself off with an irritable gesture. "Either way when he came to our home, he died. I was told that I was protected by the love you used to fuel the shield…"

"Love?" Lily blurted confused.

He smiled knowingly. "I'd actually taken some solace from that until recently, that you'd loved me enough that it could stop even Avada Kedavra from touching me."

His mother shook her head sorrowfully. "I do love you that much Harry, I swear, even though I do not truly know you anymore, I'll always love you with everything I have. But, as far as I know it was not that which fuelled my spell. I know of no method by which a spell can be fuelled by love. That was one of the things the Department of Mysteries studied, not little old me."

Harry nodded, smiling slightly at her calm yet casual assertion that she loved him. That was perhaps the only time in his memory when someone had said that. "I suspect now that that too must have been a lie on Dumbledore's part. He tried to convince me that it was my capacity for love and giving of myself which is the power the Dark Lord knows not." He shrugged, ignoring her skeptical expression, something he knew was more directed at Dumbledore's claims than at him.

Kate snickered. "What, did he expect you to hug the Dark Lord to death?"

Harry shrugged. "I hope not. Regardless, I was told you died that night, along with Dad protecting me from evil. I was later told that Voldemort had only been disembodied, not killed outright, which I have to say appears to indeed be true."

"If you don't mind me asking…" she began tenuously, waiting for his signal before pressing on. "Where were you all these years? Who took care of you? Was it with Sirius? I don't know who else in our will was left alive at the end of it all, assuming he couldn't take you."

"Will?" Harry asked, nonplussed.

She nodded slowly. "Yes, if I were reported dead, then the will must have been carried out surely?"

He considered her, his eyes unreadable, his expression inscrutable. "Who did you list to take care of me?"

She sighed, thinking back, it felt both like an eternity and an instant had passed since that previous life thanks to the charm. "Sirius was the primary, though from your tone I'd say you didn't end up with him...Then were Alice and Frank Longbottom…."

Harry cringed explaining. "They were captured and tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange around the time we were attacked. They're…not in any condition to be raising anyone. Neville has been brought up by his grandmother."

She couldn't help but grieve for the fate of her friends, so long forgotten, but pressed on. "Then was Remus…we were fairly sure by then he wasn't a traitor." Harry just frowned, adding to her concern so she pressed on. "Then was the Tonks family." Here Harry blinked in surprise instead, but she pressed on, there was only one left on the list anyways... "Last was Amelia Bones, my husband's old coworker... At which point if none of the others had lived she was to take you out of country by whatever means which were available and hidden."

Harry chuckled before sighing wearily. "Remus, is alive and well though he never received care of me. The Tonkses are alive and kicking too, Nymphadora, who I recommend you never call by her first name…"

This time it was her turn to chuckled. _That,_ she remembered. It was funny the things which came back easily while other fragments fought her tooth and nail to remain hidden. "Even back then she hated that name."

Harry smiled genuinely but briefly at the thought. "She's a riot to be around. Didn't end up with them or Bones though. Which is ironic seeing as it's Madam Bones who helped me get out of Britain unnoticed."

"Then who?" she asked, almost dreading the answer.

"Your sister."

She gasped, "They put you with Petunia and that bastard whale of a husband of hers?" Her ire was momentarily diverted when Kate snorted in amusement. The girl winced at her mother's glare. Hermione was looking none too pleased either.

Kate raised her hands placatingly "Sorry, sorry. It's just that description was kinda funny."

Lily grimaced, thinking of the memories she had of the man. "Yes, well there's certainly nothing funny about Vernon Dursley."

Harry snorted indelicately. "I'd have to agree with that. However, I'm told it was because of your relation to her that the, well…the 'Blood Wards' for lack of a better term would remain active so long as I made my home with someone of your bloodline." He shrugged. "Again, a lie. One which I can only speculate as to the reason to."

She snarled, furious and heartbroken at the same time, tears which were equal parts fury and pain ran down her face. "I cannot imagine you had an easy life, if you were forced to live with her family all these years."

"No, I admit I did not. But…I don't want you to worry about what it was like, we should—" But she cut him off with an angry shake of her head.

"No, I should know. I want to know what the old man-What, Albus Bloody Dumbledore subjected you to for all these years! I want to know what my _dear_ sister did with my son, I deserve to know what Dumbledore caused you to suffer for another one of his damned schemes!" She said plainly.

He considered her, likely deciding how to react to taking instructions from a woman who was basically a stranger. But he just sighed and slumped back in his chair watching her carefully over the table. "I don't talk about it. Hermione could vouch for that…So this will be the first time I've spoke of some of this…." He waited for her nod of acknowledgement. "Are you familiar with Number 4 Privet Drive?"

She hesitated trying to remember before the memories came, that little suburb was where her sister had decided to call home. A place barely a step up from a tenement really but which had all the pomposity of a walled estate.

He nodded considering her. "I was left on their doorstep with a note from Dumbledore. I don't know why they agreed to take me in, seeing as they clearly despised everything about me and who I am…" He grumbled. "I lived in the closet under the stairs for years…."

"What!" Hermione shouted, causing them all to start, and Lily felt her own hands start to shake, it was unclear whether it was from rage or anguish at this point. Kate appeared to be too shocked for words, a rare occurrence as anyone who knew her could tell you. He shrugged, and pressed on despite protesting sounds from his friend. "I was told, that you and dad had died in a car accident, the result of him being a drunkard."

"They told you what?" Lily hissed. That it was a falsehood was insulting enough, James had always been careful to remain in control of his faculties hating the feeling of being out of control. But that they had said this to the child of people believed deceased…It was unconscionable.

Again her son ploughed on. "I didn't actually know my name wasn't freak, boy or 'you little bastard' until I went to primary school. I did speak to a teacher once you know, but nothing ever came of it…I honestly don't know why."

As he didn't seem prepared to stop and talk about any of this in detail his friend reached out and grasped his hand in her own, giving comfort despite his inability to discuss it all further. "I never was fed all that much, or treated all that well, but whenever I suffered a bout of accidental magic I'd be locked in the closet after my beating without food for a couple days. One day everything changed. Letters started coming from Hogwarts though the Dursleys tried to stop me from going. When the letters became unbearable for them they took us into hiding at some shack out at sea….Say Hermione do you know if the school supply letters can reach us here?"

The girl appeared surprised at the change of direction then shook her head. "No, the spell that tracks students for those letters only reaches to the edge of the isles. It took a great deal of power to cast that spell in the first place and the New World hadn't been discovered yet when it was made."

He nodded, seeming relieved. "Hagrid came to for me then, broke into the shack, scared the crap out of the Dursleys let me tell you…spelled Dudley with a pig's tail. That really pissed them off…Explains the next summer I suppose. Either way, he introduced me to the wizarding world. He even got me my familiar. Hedwig, first friend I had besides Hagrid himself I suppose. You know, it's funny, I still think of Hagrid as a friend despite it all. I think he's just too damn loyal for his own good, and Dumbledore used that to his own benefit."

Lily nodded absently at that, she too had fond memories of the half-giant. It was true what Harry said, Hagrid was a simple man who worshipped the ground Dumbledore walked on.

Harry shrugged that off. "I got my wand, which ironically was in some ways my first experience with Voldemort." He saw his mother's querying expression. "My wand bears the brother core to his own."

She hummed, the enchanter in her intrigued by the concept, even as the mother in her was horrified. "That…could have some interesting complications."

He chuckled, actually seeming vaguely pleased. "It does, but we can come back to that later. I returned to the Dursleys after that for a bit, before I got shipped off to school. They seemed resigned to the fact I was going at that point." He sighed, an almost happy sound as he recalled that time. "It really was the start of a whole new life for me. Hogwarts I mean…Now?" He shook his head. "I can't help but wonder if Dumbledore set it all up from the beginning…"

Lily frowned, but continued reluctantly. Her memories of the headmaster did not match his actions. "I'll admit, Dumbledore has been a part of many things that leave me wondering about his true motives now..." She thought about just the things they had spoken of in the last few minutes. She wondered how many of his past actions were not so benign as they seemed. He was there that night...why would he tell her Harry was dead if he was not? There were just too many questions arising. She wanted answers…

* * *

Elsewhere, across the world in the British Ministry of Magic's DMLE holding cells, jailer Doniker was having a bad day. He'd left not ten minutes before….okay, maybe twenty minutes, if he was being honest with himself, to grab the food for the prisoners from the kitchens. He'd stopped off at the canteen for a drink or three along the way.

Now, he hadn't been expecting excitement and joy at the prospect of the gruel that passed for food. But usually prisoners would at least acknowledge your presence when you brought them something to fill that hole in their bellies. So he became a bit concerned when his announcement that supper was served met with silence.

A quick check in their cell, and a lot of screaming and throwing up later, and he managed to report to his superiors that the pair sharing a cell in the basement were dead. Very Dead, dried out and mummified with their faces locked in a rictus of horror, dead.

It turned out that this stomach turning change in routine was just the beginning of his bad day. Apparently, his bosses wanted to know why he'd decided to leave the cell block unguarded, against protocol. And apparently they were less than satisfied with his burbled excuses. Soon enough Jailer Doniker was just Doniker, as he was unemployed. Why couldn't a bloke catch a break?

* * *

Lily smiled, one of the first genuine ones she'd managed for a while. Her worries about Dumbledore could wait a bit, she could take time to think on it, for the moment she'd prefer to hear about her son's life, and he'd given her a good opening. "I know what you mean about Hogwarts though, it was the same for me too."

Harry chuckled and jerked a thumb at Hermione, "I made my first friends my own age on the train, I met Hermione there..." he smiled fondly at his friend. "Though we didn't really become close until that Halloween. We did both get selected for Gryffindor though."

Lily laughed at that, a surprising, happy sound which shocked even her. "Of course you were. I can't see anything taking the Gryffindor out of a child of mine and my-James'."

He smiled, ignoring the slight hitch at his father's name. "Things were…different at Hogwarts. I had friends, for the first time I could recall, and for the most part people seemed nice enough. I had a few enemies naturally."

She hummed agreement. "Death Eater spawn I assume?"

Harry grimaced. "Yeah, and Snape."

Lily blinked surprise at that, her old friends name bringing with it a myriad of memories, good and bad. "Severus? What's he doing teaching at Hogwarts, he hates being around children!"

Harry snorted, "Trust me we've noticed. He teaches potions, hates my guts…apparently I'm arrogant just like my father."

She sighed shaking her head, "Severus and your father had a highly…unpleasant relationship." She admitted. "Basically your father tormented Severus until I put a stop to it…He never did forgive James."

Here Harry interrupted her. "I know, I saw some memories of it. Apparently he's taking out his grudge on him against me."

Lily shook her head sadly, remembering how her childhood friend had always had been…touchy. He held onto grudges like they were his sole link to sanity. She changed subjects, they could address that further later, along with everything else. "So, what happened that Halloween that helped you two become friends?"

Hermione spoke up here, "He saved my life."

Whatever answers Lily had been expecting, that had not been among them. Hermione explained, chattering happily, despite the topic. "I wasn't terribly popular back then. I'm still not I suppose…I was-am, a know-it-all, a bookworm, you can imagine how well that went over with some of my fellow students."

Lily nodded sadly. Indeed she did know, she remembered times like that in her own youth, children could be cruel.

"Ronald Weasley, who was hanging around Harry a lot said something which really hurt my feelings. I hid in the nearest bathroom and cried for hours, I was considering quitting Hogwarts if I'm being perfectly honest…"

Harry sighed, shaking his head while giving his friend a one armed hug before taking back the reins. "That was when Professor Quirrell, our Defence professor of the year, ran into the great hall and started screaming about a troll that had made it into the castle."

"A troll?" Lily asked confused. "How'd the bloody thing get past the wards?"

Her son grimaced. "Quirrell let it in himself it turns out," Harry noted dryly. "Anyways, he said the troll was in the dungeons. The teachers all raced off to face it, and instructed the prefects to take us all back to our dormitories…"

Lily gave him a questioning look. "That makes no sense, the Slytherin and Hufflepuff dormitories are in the basement."

Harry nodded agreeably. "I know, Dumbledore does that sort of thing a lot. Whenever there's danger about, he has everyone walk around with a prefect. As if that's going to do anything against some of the things which have been around the school lately. Anyways, I remembered that Hermione didn't know about the troll and went looking for her." He rolled his eyes. "Except, naturally the troll wasn't where Quirrell had said it was. And naturally it had found and cornered Hermione."

She sighed, and leaned forward to rest her head on the table a moment before sitting up again. Her headache was making a resurgence. "Please tell me you didn't try to take on a troll by yourself." She could see the answer in his embarrassed expression and groaned.

Hermione for her part appeared amused at his discomfort. "Actually, he jumped on it's back and stuck his wand up it's nose."

Kate barked a startled laugh, while Lily fought the urge to scream in frustration. Harry took to carrying on the story. "I'd forced Ron to come along, which is a good thing because he managed to drop the thing's club on it's head and knocked it out."

"And there you go, friendship formed!" Hermione noted happily.

"Not the only dangerous thing in the castle that year." Harry noted absently.

His mother shook her head, somehow that didn't comfort her. "Do I even want to know?

Harry considered her. "If you want to know exactly the six kinds of hell Dumbledore has allowed me to go through the last few years…then yeah, kinda."

Lily groaned.

* * *

 **Temporal Knight Psuedo-AN:** So this chapter gave us a bit of trouble but we got there in the end. Trying to get the balance between Lily remembering things yet still having leftover issues with a long term, deep memory charm were difficult. Hopefully we've managed to strike the middle ground well enough to keep it both realistic and enjoyable!

 **Recommendation(s) for the week:** Death's Pride and Darkened Paths by Paladeus. Long un updated but his recent note on his profile suggested that might change soon. Here's hoping. They're both Lunar Harmony, and a must read if you enjoy that stuff.


	11. Chapter 11

Author's Note: This Chapter was hard. I needed to balance the need to see Lily reacting to Harry's past, with the need to avoid rehashing the last 5 books in detail. Not as easy as it sounds. I may take a week to just sort the planning for the next bits out a bit more. But we'll just have to see how it pans out?

Reviews: As ever, Reviews are greatly appreciated, but not mandatory.

* * *

Chapter 11: Albus Bloody Arse Monkey Dumbledore

The offices of the Ministry of Magic's muggle liaison office were just about the worst spaces set aside for administration staff in the whole complex. They were dingy, dark, dirty and stuck way down in the sub-basements alongside the floo transportation offices. A group of Aurors locking down their neighbours' offices had just about been the most exciting thing that had ever happened within viewing distance of this terrible little backwater.

This office was where you career went to die, along with the metric crap ton of parchment work associated with every violation of the statute of secrecy and all the work that went into getting the myriad of materials the Ministry needed but couldn't come across easily by other means.

The fact that such an office, which in theory should have been moderately important was treated as the dumping ground for the unwanted and unpopular, said something less than complimentary about the Ministry of Magic's view of Muggles.

Today, in particular, a notably lazy and slothful clerk found his day utterly ruined when a letter from the Muggle side of the liaisons equation arrived on his desk. One might ask how the mere arrival of the letter on one's desk might ruin your day. Simply put it was because this was one letter the clerk was actually required by law to do something about, as indicated by the specialized seal and addressing information on the envelope's face.

This particular clerk proceeded to practically tackle the another employee trying to get to the offices single owl courier and send the bird on it's way with the letter so that it was out of his hair as soon as humanly possible and so that he was not required to hike across the complex to the letters destination himself.

Ironically, the fight which generated from that grew heated enough that both involved were taken into custody by a very tired and very grumpy Auror who frog marched the two of them up and over to the Aurors offices within the DMLE for causing a disturbance.

* * *

Harry sat tiredly on the edge of the bed in the first guest room his mother had provided.

 _His mother_ , it was still hard to believe that she was alive, it was an earth shattering revelation for him all things considered. He'd gone his whole life believing her dead, and now? And now she was just a couple rooms away, close enough to touch.

It had been decided, well….demanded actually, in the wake of their conversation that he and Hermione could stay with them in their home here, Hermione and Kate had wandered off to collect their belongings while he and his mother became reacquainted and tried to sort of the mystery of how they had disappeared from each other's lives.

They had spoke for a while after the girls had left, in this case about his first through third year at Hogwarts. The problem with this was that it had left his mother in a rip-roaring temper. Not directed against him in specific thankfully, but against the world in general.

Harry had no experience with such things, he'd never been in a position to want to comfort a relative before, and his typical methods for placating the Dursleys when they got angry didn't really work in this situation. It didn't help that he was in some ways half the reason for her emotional upheaval.

They had agreed to take a break while she calmed herself down and he'd isolated himself in his room to practice occlumency, for all the good it did him. He had minimal _useful_ instruction in the topic, thanks to Snape, and right now his mind was abuzz after being reunited with his mother. Trying to clear his mind was proving a major endeavour at the moment.

Thankfully he didn't have to struggle fruitlessly for long, as soon enough the sound of Hermione and Kate's return had him leaving the bedroom to meet them.

He arrived in the kitchen and common area to find their belongings stacked near the entrance. Hermione and his sister, another weird thing to contemplate, were pulling off their jackets.

"This cold snap should be over in a couple hours, tomorrow's projected to be pretty warm so the snow should be gone soon enough." Kate explained, continuing some conversation he had not heard.

"Just how warm does it get around here?" Hermione asked rubbing her hands together to warm them up again.

"Canada? Or Churchill specifically?" Kate asked rhetorically. "Canada varies wildly, I hear Vancouver and the Island out there get to be similar to what England gets. The plains can get pretty darn warm in the summer, down right arid around the Alberta badlands, most other places down south get around twenty to thirty Celsius at best? Here…well we're generally lucky if we hit twenty in the summers."

She turned upon spotting him and opened her mouth to say something when their mother paced back into the room.

"Got everything you need?" She asked, nodding to the pile of luggage and cages.

"Yes Mrs…Err, do you prefer Mrs Bevans, Potter or Evans?" Hermione asked uncertainly.

"Lily will do fine. Technically I'm still a Potter, but I remember living under a different name for so long now.." His mother explained with a slight wince.

"So, what did we miss?" Kate asked, as she finished pulling off her boots.

Lily snorted darkly, "Apparently Hogwarts safety regulations have _really_ gone downhill since I was there, and that's saying something. We needed a break after he told me about third year. I was _this_ close to trying a transatlantic apparation so I could strangle Dumbledore with his beard. Even discounting charming me, what he's been doing with that school - and my son in particular - should be criminal!"

Hermione winced, she knew how being that angry at someone could feel, but more so how it looked. She could imagine it hadn't been pleasant for Harry seeing his mother that upset, especially so soon after meeting her.

They spent the next couple minutes sorting their belongings into the guest rooms. Hermione noticed Lily watching her with interest before turning away. "What?" She asked, concerned she'd done something which might upset Harry's mother.

Lily sighed, looking chagrined. "Sorry, I didn't mean to stare, I was…well I was wondering if you two planned on bunking together."

Hermione blushed, "Err, no. We're not like that, and besides I kinda assumed that you wouldn't be okay with that anyways…"

Lily grimaced. "I can't say the thought of my son sleeping with girls at fifteen makes me happy, no. However I am…well aware that I'm not exactly in a position to tell him how to live his life. I wasn't many years older than you when I slept with James the first time, and more importantly I haven't been in Harry's life, he had to make his own way without me."

Hermione tilted her head considering that before nodding acceptance. "Well, no, me and Harry aren't bunking together."

"Okay, just…mildly surprised I guess, you and he are clearly very close, I can tell that just by looking at you two. Besides I've now heard more than a few stories about your adventures together. I just thought there was a good chance something might have come out of that."

Hermione hummed noncommittally. It wasn't a comfortable conversation, probably because it was so similar to her own desires on the subject. Kate who had apparently been listening decided to ride to the rescue. "I'm going to cook up some lunch, how about you guys keep on with your stories while I do that?"

Hermione shrugged. "I'm okay with that if Harry and Lily are…"

Lily nodded and led the way into the kitchen, where Harry was tending to Hedwig. Soon enough all three of them were sat at the table while Kate started her work at the stove.

"So….."Lily sighed as she thumped down into her chair. "Fourth year?"

* * *

Amelia Bones wanted to scream, not in fear, horror or terror, but at the sheer raw levels of frustration she was feeling. The alarm she had received just after the departure of the Dwarves had informed her someone was attempting to bypass the wards at the Granger residence. Following her discussion with Harry she had decided to take a personal interest in the protection of the Grangers. It turned out that concern was justified.

Albus Bloody Arse Monkey Dumbledore had been attempting to coerce the Grangers into divulging the location of their daughter and Harry. Apparently Daniel Granger had been smart enough to avoid letting him cross the threshold, as that was where the newly installed wards ended. And had sat himself in a chair across said threshold from Dumbledore and taunted the man with references to a muggle fantasy novel while the old man attempted to threaten and browbeat him. Most notably by referring to the headmaster as Gandalf.

Naturally she had taken exception to Dumbledore then attempting to breach the wards and had arrested him. That was where her frustrations had gotten worse. Dumbledore had chastised her for the next half-hour while she walked him through the process of being taken into police custody, only to then have that doddering ninny Fudge practically wet himself that she was arresting the chief warlock and give him a ministerial pardon on the spot. The sheer hypocrisy of this was staggering as Fudge had less than a month ago been trying to have the man arrested himself.

She'd then spent the next half hour arguing with Fudge about the Dwarf issue. It had taken all her considerable cajoling, persuading and brow beating ability to get him to commit to conceding to the Dwarves ultimatum. He had honestly been convinced that they could tell the Dwarves to quote "shove their heads up their own arses" until she had painstakingly pointed out just what would happen should he do so.

Most migraine inducing had been when, part way through the conversation, the man had begun lamenting Malfoy's "steadying" influence. She had cut him off before he could get going on that. The absolute last things the wizarding world needed was an undeniably confirmed Death Eater among the free.

She'd been called twice more to the the Grangers that day before Dumbledore had apparently give up. Each time she'd arrived to find Dumbledore fiddling with the wards while Dan or Emma Granger made Lord of the Rings references while throwing things at the old man.

Each time she told him to get lost or she would hex him until he couldn't feel his nuts and he'd left in a strop. She'd only just managed to get back to her officers a few minutes ago, after assigning an Auror detail to watch the place. She really wanted to strangle that old bastard with his beard.

* * *

Lily had to fight the urge to bang her head on the table in front of her, not the least because her daughter had placed a piping hot bowl of soup in front of her. Instead she settled for running her palm irritably through her hair. "Who the hell does Dumbledore think he is?" She snarled suddenly startling the others who were just starting to tuck into their meals.

"Seriously, because to all appearances he's using my son as cannon fodder in his little crusade without bothering to even train you properly!" She exclaimed. Harry had just finished going over the events of fifth year. "What's more he's using the members of his damnable flaming turkey club as some sort of…." she cast about for an appropriate term.

"Private army of meat shields?" Kate suggested acerbically. She'd been less than impressed with whomever this Dumbledore person was as well. She'd been heartbroken when Harry had explained just what had happened to his godfather. Though not as horrified as when Harry had explained he and a handful of school friends had been forced to do battle with terrorists because the man and his little group couldn't get off their butts.

Lily grumbled but nodded conceding the point. "He's messed with Harry's life - and my own - from the beginning and as near as I can tell he's done so based solely on the word of a possibly demented seer…Even if the prophecy is true, which I wouldn't be willing to take bets on it, he should have at least saw to you getting some proper training for it!"

Harry nodded soberly. "I'm not certain, but I think he believes he has a reason for doing things that way." He raised his hands defensively at his mother's glare. "I'm not saying it's a good reason or that he's right, just that he thinks he's justified. I think in his mind the prophecy can only be interpreted one way."

"And that is?" Kate asked blowing on her spoonful of soup.

"I think he believes I need to die so Voldemort can be killed, and that Voldemort has to be the one to do it." Harry explained simply.

Lily's spoon clattered on the table, and she groaned. "So that's the crazy bastard's plan! It makes sense, he wants you to play martyr to all this and has arranged matters so you will do it. Isolates you from the get go. No real family, he saw to _that_ with a memory charm it seems, and friends who are by nature or design of his own fickle or capricious. Think about it, if he wanted simply to avoid triggering a possession like happened at the Ministry staying away from you himself makes sense, but keeping your friends away? Never."

Hermione winced at the comment about fickle friends. And Harry quickly reached across to squeeze her hand. "It's okay 'Mione, I know we both wish things could have worked out differently that summer…"

His friend grimaced and shook her head. "I should have known better-I should have-"

He cut her off. "Forgiven and forgotten Hermione, I promise, I don't hold it against you." He turned his attention back to his mother after Hermione gave him a small grateful smile. "Now what was this about Dumbledore?"

Lily had their attention again, "I mean, just think about it, he was setting you on a path where you would believe you had no purpose beyond that of sacrificing yourself for…"

"The greater good." Harry growled, thinking of the his conversation with the Headmaster following Sirius' death. He could not recall if the old man had said those words specifically, but that had been the essence of his message.

Lily nodded, looking sour. "I bloody hate that phrase, he used to say it all the time back in the old Order. How much you want to bet he sees himself as being the one to kill Voldemort after you died?"

"Two defeated dark lords under his belt, his influence would be unmatched, at least in England…" Harry noted, Hermione nodding vigorously. "He could mould England whatever way he wanted with almost no opposition. Perhaps we should wonder just what his vision of the future is?"

His mother sighed. "I'm sorry for ranting like that, but I'm just furious I ever trusted the whiskery old wanker." Harry made a sympathetic sound. "I suppose all that brings us up to the start of this summer?" She asked.

Harry nodded. "I spent a long time thinking on all of this, and really when it came down to it I couldn't see a good reason to allow it to continue. I originally thought about just running for it, but I couldn't help but think that I'd be leaving everything and everyone I cared about behind…"

"Then how are you here?" Kate asked, she didn't sound accusatory, merely curious.

"I decided that if, on the off chance the prophecy is accurate, I were required to fight Voldemort I would need training, and allies. I decided I'd leave Britain for a while, maybe see some of the world while I searched for those things. I tried to talk Hermione into taking care of Hedwig for me…"

Hermione smirked in amusement. "But I told him he was being an idiot and that I was coming with him, we argued about it for a while but he gave in."

Harry smiled thinly in return. "Yes I did, we went to her house to prepare to leave, her parents weren't happy but she was set on following me…I decided to take care of some business while she spent some time with them."

Hermione sighed wearily. "And nearly got yourself killed…again."

Harry shot her a look, "I consider Madam Bones' life a good trade off considering."

"Amelia?" Lily asked.

He nodded agreement, grunting slightly. "I went there hoping that she could help me get rid of the trace—"

"Sensible." Lily allowed grudgingly.

"Just a couple problems with that. First Voldemort decided to try for her that night. Madam Bones, her niece Susan, Emmeline Vance, an Auror and myself fought them long enough that back up arrived and forced him to retreat…Amelia covered for me so Dumbledore and some of his agents in the Aurors didn't figure out I was there. The second problem was that apparently things have gone down hill in the office which monitors underage sorcery. Apparently they only watch muggleborns or muggle raised students within fixed locations these days. I needn't have gone there in the first place. Though I don't regret it overall."

"So she couldn't help you?" Lily asked.

"Not precisely, not with that at least, she helped cover for me, and warded Hermione's house, and offered to help us find people to train me should I need it." He explained patiently.

She nodded, understanding. "So how did you end up here?"

"I mentioned a story Arthur Weasley told me about a certain obnoxiously painted magical car the Ministry had confiscated to Hermione. We noted that the car's source was in the same area as one of the family properties. Mr Weasley had mentioned that our family modified vehicles magically in the past, and I wondering if you might have had a friend in this area who had taken up the torch." Harry admitted shrugging.

"Once we got here it was merely a question of tracking down the person who worked on such a hideous vehicle." Hermione noted.

Kate was amused though her mother appeared less so. "Didn't think about that. Thanks to the memory charm I suppose I couldn't, but...that was still a huge risk that I overlooked..."

"In this case I'm not inclined to complain, it allowed me to find you after all." Harry pointed out.

Lily tilted her head smiling slightly "For which I will forever be grateful, that doesn't change the fact though that if you could find us, someone else could too."

Kate grimaced, "What is the likelihood of someone following you here?"

Her brother shrugged. "As far as I know only myself and Hermione know about the connection between this particular property and the confiscated vehicle."

Lily sagged slightly in relief, before looking critically at her son. "How long do you intend to stay, you've made it pretty clear you're on a mission. As much as I dislike it."

Harry nodded his thanks to his mother. It must have been difficult for her to allow him his choice in the matter considering she'd just gotten him back. Merlin knew he wasn't as eager to leave now that he knew it was her up here as when he'd been back at the hotel. "I don't know honestly. I can theoretically take as long as I feel necessary, but like I said people back home might need me, if the prophecy is right. Delaying too long could see people suffering when I might have been able to stop it."

She nodded however it was Kate who spoke first. "Where else were you intending to go?" She asked curiously.

Harry shrugged. "I have no real plans. I wanted to hit what properties we had around the world and see if there was anybody you might have known in the area. Otherwise the only tentative plan we had for certain was getting in contact with Gringotts via their branch in the International market place in Hawaii. They offered to look for teachers for me as well, and wanted to arrange remote access to Sirius' will reading since I'd be in the area."

Lily's brows went up. "I thought you had no planned destinations, what are you going to be doing all the way out there?"

It was Harry's turn to do eyebrow gymnastics in the resulting confusion. "What do you mean, I mentioned I was hitting up all our properties, I would be stopping through the one on Oahu."

Lily gaped at him then, after blinking stupidly at him for a moment threw her head back and laughed. It was perhaps the first time Harry had heard her make such a happy sound. "Oh James, you damned scamp, that's what you did!" She noted his questioning glance. "James had been teasing me for months before that night that he was preparing a special gift for me that christmas. I never found out what it was, then there's the fact that he sent our elves into hiding, but I could never find them! He must have ordered them to seek shelter there and wait until retrieved."

"Elves?" Hermione blurted, clearly alarmed, Harry shot her a quelling look, clearly asking her to wait, but Lily caught her expression.

"I know what you mean, appalled me at first too." She agreed nodding. "Had a nasty fight with James over it, thinking they were slaves right? But he eventually explained some facts I was missing."

Hermione was watching her avidly and Harry felt driven to explain. "Er—Hermione has kind of taken to championing House Elf rights. Formed a group and everything. Uh—Do you want to tell them the name or should I?" He asked weakly.

She glared at him. "Ok, fine I admit the name I chose was unfortunate! The Society for the Promotion of Elvish Welfare, and yes I'm aware that comes out spelling SPEW." Kate had to fight to stifle a laugh at that.

"Very noble Hermione," Lily assured her. "I think you should know something before you get too deep in though." Hermione looked askance at her. "Elves need work, it's what they thrive on. And nobody in the world generate chores and work like humans. Where do you think the old legends and tales about Brownies came from? House Elves love to work, unfortunately some took advantage of this. Either way House Elves need to be bonded to a family in order to benefit from their labour, unfortunately this became twisted by many into a master and slave arrangement. I can assure you House Potter never indulged in such things."

Hermione looked confused so Lily elaborated. "The Potters had Elves yes, but they always treated them well, and the Elves received payment in their own way. They need to work, but they are…wired in such a way that work in and of itself is it's own reward. Thus no further payment required. They got everything they needed by living with the Potters. Food, shelter, and work."

"But what about Dobby, he didn't want to be with his owners! And he even gets paid now." Hermione protested.

Harry had been processing what his mother had said. "If I were to guess, I'd say Dobby wanted to be free because the work didn't balance out the abuse he was receiving from the Malfoys. As for the payment, my guess is that it is his way of thumbing his nose at his old master. I am paid therefore I am free of you. I preferred this to being in your service?"

Lily was nodding, "That would be my guess as well judging from what I've heard…Though you'd have to ask the elf himself to be certain."

Kate had been silent the last minute or so. "You know…You don't have to go alone when you two leave."

The other's looked to her in varying degrees of confusion, and she sighed in exasperation. "I mean, why don't we come with you? When you eventually decide it's time to leave that is."

Lily snorted in amusement. "Yeah, I was getting to that honey, you just need to be a bit more patient." Her daughter shot her a mildly insolent grin in return.

"Yeah, well you were taking too long, I wanted to know!" Her daughter shot back.

Harry was shaking his head, "I couldn't ask that of you. Your lives are here, I can't expect you to just pick up and leave it all behind."

Lily cocked a brow at him skeptically, but it was Kate who actually spoke up looking to Hermione. "Let me guess, he gave you a similar line before you followed him on this adventure right?"

Hermione nodded, chuckling. "Yes, he most certainly did, he doesn't seem to get that being in his company isn't a huge burden."

Lily reached across and patted Harry's hand. "This was never really home Harry. Just a place I ran away to, to get away from my troubles..."

Kate nodded briskly. "Churchill Manitoba is hardly the centre of civilization. Being magicals on top of that further keeps us marginalized. Oh people know our faces, but we're hardly part of the community. The only people who come even close to really 'knowing' us are my coworkers and Old Lady Winter."

"Mom teaches me most everything else. Spend a couple hours everyday on various things…She's the best at Charms and potions though. I seem to have Dad's knack for transfiguration though according to her…"

Lily cocked her head, her eyes turning assessing as she looked to Harry. "And what are your strengths, what fields are you best at? I don't suppose you got your OWLs back yet?"

Harry shook his head. "No, we left before that…" He winced and looked to Hermione. "Sorry about that."

She waved that off irritably. "Had we been back home I'd no doubt be excited to figure out what I got on those exams. Here it doesn't seem nearly as important. I'm sure if I get really curious we could get one of our friends to find out for us."

Harry nodded, then gave a start as he realized he'd gone off topic. "I don't really know what I'm good at. I do well enough in several subjects I suppose…"

Hermione sighed, and looked to Lily. "He routinely scores second highest in Defence against the Dark Arts, and within the top three in Charms. He's not too shabby at most of the others save History of Magic and Divination in which he always sort of bottoms out. He's a wonderful flyer too, and seems to be fairly powerful, though I don't know how to definitively measure that." She saw the questioning looks she was getting, and shrugged a touch sheepishly. "I memorize things easily, and Harry always lets me see his test results."

"No interest in Runes?" She asked curiously.

Harry shook his head. "I kinda went for easy courses for my electives. My other friend wanted to go that way…" He looked a touch frustrated. "In retrospect, I probably should have gone with something a touch more useful."

Lily nodded understandingly. "Well, as you know me and your father made a living in the family business with Runes. If you ever want teaching in it, both me and Kate are good at it."

Harry nodded, but looked a touch rueful. "I might take you up on that, but I'm fairly used to working with Hermione and she's very good at it too."

"Oh?" Lily asked curious, she had gotten the impression Hermione was a hard worker and fairly intelligent, she wondered just what the girl who kept her son company was like.

Harry smirked. "She mentioned my scores, what she didn't mention is that she's basically been top of her class in every class she's taken for the last five years. She's apparently burned all previous records."

Lily whistled in appreciation. "And that would be no mean feat," she agreed, and looked to her daughter who was looking curious again. "I would know how much work that takes, I set a couple of those records back in the day."

Hermione was blushing, "Yes well, I just try my hardest, I see no reason to go to school if I'm not going to do my best."

"The thing is her best on a bad day is way better than the best the rest of us can manage on a good day." Harry laughed in amusement.

Lily eyed the girl, a touch more approvingly. She hadn't had anything against her prior to this, but she had been uncertain of the girl who was so attached to Harry. "So, you're good at runes eh?" She nodded thoughtfully. "Well I'm sure we have some things you'll find interesting around here if you want a look…but we're getting off topic. The point is Harry, we can easily leave this place behind."

Kate nodded eagerly. "Yes, please don't think we're attached to this place. I'd _love_ to see something besides tundra and polar bears every day. The largest mundane land predator on earth may be majestic, but the shine kinda wears off after a while." She noted dryly.

Lily cocked her head at the two of them, eyeing them curiously. "You know, as happy as I am to see you here...It's a little odd to see two teenagers traveling alone. I know Harry's home situation is bad, but-I hope you don't think me rude, but why didn't your parents come on this journey, Hermione?"

Hermione smiled slightly. "It's okay, you weren't being rude, it's a perfectly reasonable question. My parents aren't with us for a couple reasons actually. First and foremost is because even had they been able to quit their jobs on a moment's notice and pack the house up quickly it would have made us far easier to track. Two teenagers travelling together by non-magical means is a lot harder to track for the average wizard than a whole household leaving at the same time. I had hoped that by splitting us up my parents might be able to weather the scrutiny which would come at our disappearance until those who are watching us lose interest and try other avenues to find us. At which point their affairs should be in order and they could more easily go into hiding."

"And once they are in hiding too? I assume you plan to meet back up with them at some point?" Lily asked.

Hermione nodded firmly. "Ideally yes. However it's most important that me and Harry achieve what we set out to do. At the very least, this way I'll know they are safe. However I'm hopeful we'll be able to meet up with them somewhere along the way."

Kate turned to her mom and gave her an appraising look before looking back to her sibling. "How were you intending to get to your next destination?"

Harry shrugged. "Was leaning towards flying, we avoided port keys and the floo network back home because we didn't want to be noticed. Dumbledore's got to be looking for me by now if Canada's a member of the ICW, they might be looking for me too eventually."

Lily shrugged. "Canada is technically a protectorate of the ICW, and relations are…tenuous at best right now with the old country. Add to that our minimal population of magicals and the likelihood of you being noticed is slim…"

She paused to consider, cocking her head. "It would be relatively easy to for us to leave, whenever we're packed really…"

"Yes! Let's get out of here, like-now!" Kate yelped excitedly, and her mother snorted in amusement.

"Easy, we have to pack, and _you_ will need to quit your job, make sure you thank your boss for everything." Lily said firmly, smiling at her Daughter's enthusiasm. "How soon were you wanting to leave then?"

Harry shook his head, he couldn't believe how quickly this whirlwind was spinning his life around, still he considered the question. "I'm good to leave whenever you are. Me and Hermione are still packed, so no problems on that front...I just need to be at Gringotts in Hawaii in time for the will reading on the eighth…."

Lily smiled. "Plenty of time then!" She paused, her brow furrowing slightly. "We can be ready to leave by tomorrow morning if need be...But I think it'd be best to leave it until the morning after. That will give Kate time to quit her job and get her pay sorted, and it'll allow me to finish the latest vehicle I've been working on and go around the reservation and thank Old Lady Winter for her help."

Kate stilled slightly. "Would you mind if I came along for that, I'd like to thank her too."

Her mother nodded easily, then looked to Harry, and saw he had no objections. "It's settled then. Day after tomorrow. Now, let's see about some desert."

* * *

Amelia Bones was _this_ close to throwing curses around. It was barely halfway through the day, and already just about everything had come off the rails in a spectacular fashion.

The Carrow Twins, Amycus and Alecto, had been found dead in their cell early this morning, whatever had been done to them had resulted in the both of them being sucked dry of everything useful until they were nothing more than emaciated husks contorted in a rictus of pain. Apparently the Dark Lord didn't tolerate failures well.

To make matters that much worse. Cornelius Fudge had heard word of the deaths early on, likely from one of the more political twits loitering about the office. He'd stormed into the building early on, intent upon berating her for "lax security" or some such.

Amelia had then been forced to waste a good half hour systematically rendering him toothless and sending him on his way. She'd very pointedly noted that it was thanks to several bills he'd pushed through that the Auror corps was so critically understaffed. To add to the problem, the Carrow lawyers at attempted to slow down the justice process to a stand still demanding a special hearing instead of an interrogation. Something which had taken time they couldn't afford to waste.

Once he'd left, apparently unable to come up with a suitable retort, she was able to turn her attention to her other worries. Both Hestia and Kingsley had reported being approached by the Order of the Phoenix. Apparently Albus was getting quite insistent.

The only positive in this entire mess, was that despite the less than official circumstances surrounding the deaths of the Carrows the Dwarves had withdrawn their complaint merely levelling several official warnings against it happening again in the future. They had left no doubt as to what the consequences would be should this happen again.

Amelia wasn't optimistic on that state of affairs lasting with the kinds of idiots the Carrows owed loyalty to roaming around.

Still, she couldn't seem to catch a break today. She'd finally gotten herself resettled at her desk a while after Cornelius had left the office when a knock sounded at the door. Her secretary for the day poked her head in nervously. "Madam Director?"

She needed to quite carefully rein herself in before looking up and nodding to the young woman. "Yes?"

"You er—you have a missive from the Muggle Liaisons Office? You told me to forward any communiques from them that had a red seal immediately?"

Amelia straightened somewhat at that. Red seals from the Muggle Liaisons Office, were direct messages from the Muggle Government. It was an oft forgotten, and much begrudged fact, that technically speaking, the Ministry of Magic was in fact still a sub-section of the elected Muggle Government, just as any of the other Ministries were. She nodded, and gestured the girl forward, hand outstretched. "Ah, let me see it then…"

The secretary hurried forward and laid the envelope in her hand before hurrying off again to attend to her duties.

Amelia pried the package open and unfolded the letter, printed on the familiar and yet strange perfectly rectangular paper with meticulously uniform letters and numbers that muggle computers turned out.

 _Amy_

 _I hate to be a bother, but you are going to want to come into the yard today. We'll be expecting you around 3:00 p.m, I'd advise against being late under the circumstances._

 _Samantha Grimes_

Beside that was stamped the official coat of arms for the Greater London Metropolitan Police Department. As if that were not enough to authenticate this message as legitimate, below that was a single co-signature. Still that seemingly insignificant line of cursive made her pause and blink in surprise. It wasn't very often that they saw something directly sanctioned by the current muggle prime minister of the time. Often they were wary of interfering in any way with the magical community. Yet there it was, the chief muggle's signature, making it very clear that this wasn't merely a request.

Sam usually avoided formality whenever they were forced to interact or correspond, that the Chief Inspector had gone through the trouble of getting her "invitation" signed by the Prime Minister, said quite clearly, that whatever this was, it was serious.

She sighed, she'd need to make her rounds so she wouldn't be missed too badly while attending to whatever this was. Still, she should be able to draw up a couple of trustworthy Aurors to guard Susan while she was gone.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Welp that's all I've got. And SOD I totally forgot last chapter to thank my Beta and pseudo-coauthor didn't I? Well...Uh, thanks Temporal Knight!

 **Recommendation(s) of the week:** Well...crap, I seem to have trouble thinking of one this week. How about "Browncoat Green Eyes" a Harry Potter/Firefly crossover of all things. It's pretty good stuff!


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note:** Well, here's Chapter 12, which should sum up the last of the rewrites, hallelujah thank the lord!. Rewrites are always the hardest part of writing for me. Hopefully this chapter will be satisfying!

 **Reviews and Such:** As ever Reviews are much appreciated but not mandatory by any means.

* * *

 **Chapter 12: Resolutions**

3:00 P.M

Under normal circumstances Amelia would simply have apparated to her destination. However given the fact that her destination, Scotland Yard, was infact located in the middle of London. Adding to this problem was the fact the building boasted more CCTV cameras than the average government structure in the nation's capital. That it was broad daylight also contributed to her caution.

Instead she found herself surreptitiously climbing into a muggle taxi outside the Ministry, using the small fund of muggle money she kept for emergencies she proceeded to ride it to her destination. Traffic being what it was at this time of day she arrived with only a few minutes to spare, something which grated on her already frayed nerves considering the content of the message she'd received.

Thankfully as she climbed the front steps into Scotland yard she found a welcoming committee of sorts already waiting for her. She tried to ignore all the cameras tracking her progress across the lobby.

Samantha Grimes. Chief Inspector of the Greater London Metropolitan Police Department, and her liaison with the city's law enforcement apparatus. Sam was a tall, dour woman who looked, quite frankly like she'd seen eight kinds of hell. Like Mad-Eye Moody without the missing bits.

"Amy" Samantha greeted simply as she approached, her hands fiddling idly with a silver case before slipping it back into a pocket..

"Sam," Amelia replied, offering a dry smile in return. It was unusual for members of the muggle and magical government to cultivate any kind of friendly working relationship, however Amelia and Samantha had managed it.

Sam grunted in acknowledgement. "If you'll follow me, we've got something that requires your attention."

Well...as friendly a relationship as it was possible to have with Sam. As the Director understood it, the woman had started as a beat cop and clawed her way, in some cases entirely unwillingly, up the ladder. The woman had little patience for small talk or politicking which was just fine with Amelia considering how much crap she had to deal with from her bosses on a daily basis. Things like that could wait until later as far as she was concerned.

The Inspector led the way through a security checkpoint, waving off the peculiar looks Amelia got when the guards found her wand. Apparently the guards had learned a long time ago, to just roll with the punches where the boss was concerned and barely reacted before handing it back to her.

Eventually she was led to a bank of lifts, secluded near the back of the lobby, where Sam opened one secured with specialized locks, before stepping inside.

Amelia watched Sam wait for the doors to close behind them, before beginning to run through the various built in security measures. Some of these she'd never even heard of, let alone seen before, and she was reasonably certain even magic might have a hard time bypassing the lock which required a biometric scan.

Once these measures were complete and the lift began to descend, Amelia spoke up. "So, what's this all about Sam?"

The other woman grimaced. "Not here, the elevator shaft is fairly secure but we won't be fully secure behind the anti-surveillance screens until we get down where we're going." Sam replied shortly.

They descended in silence for close to a minute before they came to a halt and the doors slid open allowing them to step out into a fairly barren concrete hallway. Finally Samantha spoke up, perhaps sensing Amelia's growing curiosity. "We…got a bit of an odd call last...never mind" She cut herself off as they made their way along the long, dimly lit corridor. "One of our telephone surveillance systems picked up a number of keywords which immediately had the call forwarded to me."

She glanced sideways at her magical counterpart, and seeing the mild confusion explained. "We have a computer system which listens to people's phone calls for key words. In this case it picked out a couple words of note. Muggle, magic, blood, Ministry and Aurors."

Amelia felt her eyebrows go up, but Sam continued before she could inquire. "The caller was contacting their spouse that they had found one of their family members in distress, they were debating contacting the Ministry for help. However something was staying their hands…"

The finally found themselves at a featureless black steel door and once again Sam was occupied with passing security checks under the watch of a pair of very serious looking guardsmen wearing heavy body armour. They stepped through once the security check was completed and found themselves in an antechamber of some sort, here Sam paused.

"Naturally, given the circumstances we investigated. I sent a special team which has been read in on such things to the residence in question. It was there they found a woman, girl really, of perhaps eighteen? Her name is Cassandra Anders."

Amelia stiffened immediately, recognizing the name quite well. Inspector Grimes just nodded. "Thought that might get your attention, she told us she was one of yours."

She nodded firmly in response. "She's alive then? She was my Niece's bodyguard, we had assumed her lost after an attack on my home a few days ago…"

Sam grunted, a thin, dry smile on her lips. "Yes, heard about that. Made quite a mess didn't they?" She said pointedly, letting Amelia know, none too subtly that she was aware of her place of residence. She led the way over to a door set into the far wall and stepped through, holding the door open for her guest.

The room they now found themselves in was roughly rectangular from what little Amelia could see, though it was hard to be certain of the rooms dimensions in the limited lighting. In the centre of the space lit up by a small bank of dim lights was a large cube of dark glass like material. She did her best to pretend she hadn't noticed and was not alarmed by the presence of runes inscribed into the surface. An odd muffled hush seemed to fill the chamber.

Here the Inspector once again paused, leaning a hand on a raised panel in front of the cube. "Miss Anders was in a great deal of distress when we found her, and was covered in blood, her family were doing their best to tend to her, but largely seemed at a loss. I admit, knowing what I do about your ministry I can understand the problem."

Amelia cocked her head curiously at the other women, "What do you mean?"

Sam glanced over he shoulder at something, but shrugged, dropping one of her hands to a circular control on the panel beside her, and turning it slightly with a dull clicking noise. Lights ignited within the cube and while still fairly dim, the interior was now visible to those outside.

There, huddled and shivering in the corner was her missing agent.

Cassandra Anders, a new recruit really, barely out of the Auror basic training program. She'd been scored in the top five of the last decade of Auror intakes in personal protection and defence, just below Tonks, and as a result had been assigned as an opening assignment to Susan Bones' summer protection detail to ease her into active service.

A young vibrant woman of eighteen, Susan had immediately taken to the young athletic woman quite nicely. A pretty girl all told, with shoulder length blonde hair and a pleasant complexion.

At least—that was how she had looked the last time Amelia had seen the girl. The woman in the corner, while undoubtedly the person in question, was very different as well. Her hair was no longer blonde, but black and lank hanging well past her shoulders. Her eyes dark red and staring. She had a blanket draped around her, but Amelia could tell that underneath she was lightly clothed in a mismatch of ill-fitting bloodsoaked garments. Her skin, what was visible of it, was unnaturally pale and was spackled with blood.

"What happened to her?" Amelia hissed.

Sam grimaced. "She told us very little, though what she did tell us wasn't strictly speaking necessary, upon a basic examination we determined that she has what we mundanes refer to as HV-virus." At Amelia's questioning look she sighed before clarifying. "Vampirism?"

Amelia sagged, that explained it all right there. Cassandra, the young woman who had protected Susan with her life had been turned into a blood drinker. Now that she looked closer, the signs of her condition were fairly obvious. The pale complexion, the change in hair pigmentation, the blood red irises.

"When we found her, she was gorging herself on animal blood her mother had bought up at a butcher shop on her way home. How she managed to contain herself long enough for that to work I have no idea. As I'm sure you are well aware, newly turned Vampires are extremely…volatile."

Amelia nodded, she and many other Aurors had experienced the clean up involved in tracking down and eliminating a rogue newborn vampire. The families were generally good about policing their own, but every once in awhile a rogue would turn someone…"Can I speak with her?"

The inspector nodded and flicked a couple switches, and a dull hum emanated from the panel, she finally hit another switch and something, an odd current seemed to run over the glass, Cassandra's head snapped up focusing on those in front of her suddenly.

"She can see and hear us now." Sam murmured.

Amelia stepped closer to the glass. Cautious, worried, as much by the strange tech she'd seen displayed before her, as of the cell's occupant. "Hey Cass, are you—" She halted and shook her head. "Sorry, that would have been a silly question wouldn't it?"

Cassandra chuckled weakly, a rough, dry tired sound. "Hey boss…nice of you to stop by. Didn't know if I'd be seeing you again."

Amelia smiled wanly at the woman across from her. "Likewise."

Cassandra sighed. "Sorry I screwed up Boss, they caught me unawares…Is Susan okay?"

Amelia nodded quickly to reassure the young…woman across from her. "Susan is alright, a little shaken up, but we got her through okay."

Cass sighed in relief. "Good…I'm glad." The silence stretched for a short while. "So…I guess I should probably ask what happens to me now right?"

Amelia looked sideways at Sam who merely shrugged idly. "Don't look at me Amy, she's one of yours, which firmly places her in your court, she hasn't broken any of our laws-yet."

The Director of the DMLE nodded relieved Sam wasn't about to give her any trouble. "Well, I suppose that would be up to you Cass…"

The bitter laugh she received in response said it all. "What can I do? I'm a f—" The woman broke off, stifling the impolite response. "A Vampire now, which means I can't even have a wand anymore…I'll always be a danger to my family and friends…and there's no way in hell I'm going to one of the Vampire courts." She spat with loathing.

Amelia nodded, "Why don't you tell me a little about what happened to you, if you feel up to it that is?"

The woman nodded shrugging, "Not really, but I suppose it needs doing" She stared in silence at one of the mirrored walls for a moment before continuing. "We had returned to the building, Susan had forgotten something she needed…At the last moment I noticed the wards were up. They caught us on the step though, I tried to fight, but they overwhelmed us, there were too many and _HE_ was there. I don't know what happened after that, I was unconscious for I don't know how long, and I woke up somewhere I didn't recognize…" She paused considering.

" _He_ , was furious, I didn't know why at the time, but now that I see you again, alive, I think I know why." She noted with a bitterly amused snort. "He wanted my secrets though, anything I knew that could help him against you or the Aurors. I resisted, but he was too strong, he smashed through my occlumency barriers. It hurt, him digging through my head. Went on for a long time too…When he found out I didn't know anything important he was this close to just killing me."

She shrugged. "But apparently he got curious, who knows why, and started picking through my memories for things that would hurt or scare me. I don't know if I ever mentioned this to you or Susan…But I'm—I was terrified of Vampires. Started back when I was a kid and I saw a movie with some of them in it…Then it got worse when I went to school and learned more about them, and what they—we could actually do."

Cass grimaced. "He decided it would be…a fitting punishment for defying him or some such, so he turned me over to one of the Vampires allied with him."

Amelia, felt nothing but sympathy and horror for the young Auror in the cell. Voldemort had preyed on her fears just to torment her. Cassandra continued unaware. "They…I don't know how long I was with them, how long they tortured, tormented and toyed with me, but it seemed an eternity." She shrugged. "I don't know what possessed the one who did this to me. Perhaps he felt it was a mercy, or maybe he felt pity for me…or maybe he just wanted to screw with me a bit more before the end. Either way, I was nearly dead by this point. He made me drink some of his blood and then took me away, telling the others I was dead. He dumped me in some tunnel somewhere…I don't know where exactly. Told me to run when I had the chance…."

"I found my way home eventually. I don't know why I went there. I was terrified of hurting my family when I figured out what I was…" She sighed. "Perhaps I hoped they would kill me?"

Amelia pondered the story for a time, nodding slowly. She was reasonably convinced that Cassandra was on the level with her, she had no reason to lie that she could see. That didn't mean she shouldn't do her due diligence on the matter. Voldemort had enacted more elaborate ruses in the past, and had made heavy use of imperius curse against his enemies before. It was best that she cover her hoops.

"Alright Cass, I'm inclined to believe you on all this, but before we go any further I think it best I check you over. I'll

uh-need your permission to do a legilimency examination." She winced at the crestfallen expression of the girl across from her, but sighed in relief when she nodded slowly and looked up at her.

Amela had been forced to witness many terrible things in her life. What she found in Cassandra's blood soaked mind beat out most of it. The girl had been honest, and though she searched Amelia could find no evidence of imperius or compulsion upon her thoughts. She had to admit while she had heard Vampire's minds were different, she couldn't have imagined just how true this would be. Everything was viewed through a haze, influenced and enhanced by the Vampire's superior senses and need for blood and the hunt.

Amelia stood in silence for a time considering the young woman's tale. Eventually she nodded, Cass had no reason to lie about any of it, Amelia had checked her mind, and Cass saying what she had could have been a death sentence had she been handled by someone other than her. "You did your duty Cass…I'm sorry to hear what they did to you….But nothing can be decided here and now can it?"

Madam Bones looked to Sam who was standing off to the side listening with interest while fiddling with a cigarette holder. "Can you arrange transport back to our ministry?" She knew from past conversations with the Inspector that the muggles were in fact aware of their location.

Sam nodded easily, slipping the case back into her pocket. "It can be arranged. Give us a few minutes to get her properly cleaned off and such…Er—there is perhaps one more thing I'd like to cover before you go though. An inquiry from the Prime Minister actually…"

Amelia indicated she should go ahead. Sam took a breath, "Do you happen to know anything about that weird tornado out west?"

* * *

Albus Dumbledore, paced his office floor slowly. Though he hid it well, he was in an almighty foul mood. Not that his mood in general had been anything to write home about in the last few days.

His carefully laid plans and plots, almost all of them, had been upended in the last few days. Following the death of his damnable, interfering Godfather, Harry Potter should have never had the kind of willpower necessary to defy him on such a grand scale and make his escape. He had specifically taken care to ensure that this was so.

Thus, he was at a loss as to explain how it was that Harry had taken such a drastic course of action. In none of his predictions had Harry dared to act so rashly, it was quite….out of character for the lad.

He should know after all, he'd gone to great pains over the last decade and a half to ensure that Harry Potter was, precisely, who Albus Dumbledore wanted him to be. He'd carefully moulded and manipulated events throughout the boy's life so that he'd be exactly who he needed him to be upon his entry into Hogwarts. And since that time, had been able to more directly influence the boy's character.

He'd been fooled however, forgetting in his confidence in his own machinations that people had the annoying habit of surprising you when you least expected it. It was infuriating.

Harry was…at least he should have been, meek, mild mannered and malleable. He'd ensured through subtle manipulations that Harry should be the sort to take the path of least resistance. Which should have always been the path he'd set for him.

He might have even caught up with the boy despite his impromptu rebellion and corrected him. Had it not been for Amelia Bones and her interference.

The Director of the DMLE had stymied him long enough that when he eventually found the lead at the Granger's, he was unable to do anything about it until it was far too late.

That those…muggles, had dared to sit there and mock him from behind those wards had only irked him more. They undoubtedly knew something, their attitudes alone had made that plain, but they now officially operated under the protection of the Ministry's aegis thanks to Madam Bones. Legally speaking, he was not allowed near them, and he was certain by now that any leads they might have provided him were well and truly cold. At the end of last term he had attempted to facilitate a situation which would have removed the Granger girl permanently from the equation, no longer allowing her to interfere in Harry's progression along the path Dumbledore had set for him. Insisting she be treated at Hogwarts rather than Saint Mungo's following Dolohov's curse should have ensured that. Sadly fate, it seemed, had intervened.

He had of course attempted to bypass Amelia, appealing to Cornelius Fudge. However the woman was nothing if not a deft operator and master of her craft. She'd verbally handed Fudge his arse on a platter and sent him away.

Worse still in Albus' reckoning the woman had cut him off from several key members of the Order of the Phoenix. And others were wavering in the face of her displeasure. Even Moody had been making unhappy noises about the Order's activities of late. She was rapidly becoming a severe nuisance, and what was worse, for the moment at least, he was quite unable to do anything about it.

With the Ministry in disarray following Voldemort's official return, many of his allies and their political capital had all but dried up, and while he wished Amelia out of the way. He would not stoop to the levels now required to achieve it.

The likes of Voldemort, and Gellert used violence. The former like a hammer, the latter like a scalpel. While fools like Fudge traded in favours and gold, and were all the more irrelevant for it.

He, Albus Dumbledore, was a different beast altogether. He was a master at this game, and the other players, not more than gifted novices. If he could not win without resorting to beginners tactics, then he didn't deserve to win in the first place.

Where others would continue to use force and the trading of wealth, he used cunning. Manipulation and intrigue were his weapons of choice, and ultimately he was certain that in this game they were the winning combination. Now, if only he didn't have so many rogue elements wandering the board…

He shrugged mentally and physically, destiny, fate? They both assured that Harry would return in time, this was certain. If he could not catch the lad's trail at the moment...he would just turn his attention to other matters until he could. There were many things which could benefit from his attention in these troubled times he was sure.

* * *

Amelia slumped back into the relatively plush seat of the vehicle the inspector had provided for transport back to the ministry. A dark SUV with blacked out windows which would allow them to safely transport a Vampire in daylight. Not that they hadn't ensured Cass was slathered with spf 100 sunscreen before hand just in case.

Strictly speaking the stories about Vampires burning up in the light were…exaggerated. What Vampires experienced was more akin to a severe burn, if they were not appropriately protected by sunscreens and such. What would give a human a 1st degree burn would give a vampire one inches away from 3rd, one which would give a human 3rd would basically incapacitate a Vampire for the next month as they were too crispy to actually move. Actually light one on fire, and well...it was sort of like watching fireworks.

Cassandra Anders, now done up in a generic pair of jeans and t-shirt was seated nervously across from her, rubbing idly at her wrists, looking admittedly a bit…rumpled.

She hadn't been brought into scotland yard in her Auror's regalia, as that had long since been destroyed by her…hosts. Add to that, the rigours of decontamination and Cass was feeling edgy. Covered in blood, particularly that belonging to herself, a witch's blood at the time it was first spilled, and vampiric blood, from her transformation, made her a walking biohazard. The technicians had been as kind as they could about the procedure, but….

Amelia sighed, considering the woman across from her. "Cass…I don't even know where to begin."

Cassandra cringed a bit. "It's okay boss…I know what kind of shape I'm in right now, and I know the laws regarding Vampires and employment—"

Amelia waved that off tiredly. "You did you job Cass…I may not be allowed to actively employ a Vampire as an Auror, a damned shame by the way, but that doesn't mean I'm about to hang you out to dry either."

Cass smiled thinly, though Amelia could tell by her pained expression she was deathly afraid of accidentally baring her new and impressive set of teeth at her by accident. The Director shrugged. "Well, either way, you'll be receiving a severance package and a pension. We look after our own."

The smile was a touch more real this time. "Thank you ma'am."

They sat in silence for a time as the SUV picked its way through traffic towards the Ministry, Amelia soon noticing just how uncomfortable Cass was getting. She sat forward as a thought occurred to her and she began digging about in the pockets of her trench coat. Finally, finding what she was looking for and huffing a satisfied sigh. Her emergency kit.

She pulled out a small vial of pink liquid and handed it across to Cass, who looked at it and her curiously. "Blood replenishment potion." She explained simply and the girl's eyes lit with understanding.

Vampires benefited from blood replenishing potions in a way everyone else didn't. While traditionally they still required an infusion of "fresh foreign" blood every day or so, it was not enough to kill their target necessarily. However a blood replenishing potion regimen could extend the period between feedings to about a week. As an added bonus if a Vampire was fortunate enough to get a regular supply of this they could subsist solely on animal blood if needs be.

Cass took it and drank it down quickly, her nerves rapidly fading allowing her to relax a bit until they reached their destination.

When they did eventually arrive out front the ministry, Amelia led the way to the phone booth which served as the Ministry's service entrance. Cass making due under her sunscreen and with a hoody drawn up to cover her head. Dialing in Madam Bones' special access code, they descended with no further hassle into the ministry.

As they came to a shuddering halt on the floor of the Ministry guests entrance Cassandra became noticeably nervous, here, she knew she was likely to run into people she had once known, people who might not want anything to do with her after what had happened to her.

Amelia's quelling look was more than enough to prevent the desk guard from harassing Cassandra as they entered the building, though he clearly wished to comment. Amelia made a note to extend his time in that bottom feeding position by a couple weeks. She didn't need bigots out on a beat.

Though they received a couple odd looks along the way, they made it to the DMLE without being accosted further.

Still, when they entered the office Cassandra's presence was immediately met with stares and murmurs. It got bad enough when they were passing the bullpen Amelia felt the need to stop and comment. She paused, briefly patting Cass on the shoulder consolingly before stepping forward and clearing her throat, immediately catching the attention of those gathered. "As many of you have no doubt noticed, your former colleague Cassandra Anders has suffered unfortunate difficulties in the line of duty. While it does indeed preclude her from working further with us due to current Ministry Law, she is still one of ours…" She looked pointedly at those whose glares were a touch more hostile. "And we look after our own, don't we?"

This seemed to do the trick, the Director had basically thrown down the gauntlet and made it clear what the official stance on Cassandra's predicament was to be. Things were clearer now, which seemed to ease the minds of most of those present. Amelia nodded. "Good, carry on."

Most of the Aurors seemed properly settled now, and Cass briefly smiled her thanks to her former boss. Amelia nodded in return and led the way back through the offices to her little corner of the building.

The door opened and they stepped into the waiting room for her office, Tonks and Hestia pushing to their feet to meet whomever was entering. They had been more than willing to watch Susan while she was gone. Her reflections on this were immediately interrupted by the sound of a small ruckus erupting off to the side…

A small ruckus in the form of a red haired comet rocketing into Cassandra. "Cass!" Yelled Susan's joyful voice and Amelia smiled, Susan was very fond of Cassandra, and had been very worried about her. She nodded to the two Aurors she had placed on guard duty and they smiled in return before filing out.

Cass had stiffened uncertainly, worried about Amelia's reaction to her ward hugging a Vampire. Susan continued to babble unaware of her concern. "I'm so glad you're alright, I was so worried."

"Uh-hey Susan…" the Vampire responded patting the girl's back tentatively, still a small smile threatened at the girl's words.

Amelia chuckled at the display, "Susan you might want to ease up on Cass bit, she's had a bit of a hard couple days."

Susan jumped back at the gentle reprimand, and smiled up at the young woman. "Sorry Cass, I didn't mean to, I'm just so relieved—" Her voice tapered off as she took in Cass' altered appearance. The young Vampire tensed, clearly bracing for a negative reaction. Susan did indeed gasp at first bringing a hand to her mouth, then quite to Cassandra's surprise she flung herself forward again hugging the woman. "Cass! He didn't! Oh that utterly miserable bastard, he didn't!"

Cass was clearly relieved at the response this revelation had received, this time returning the hug from the younger girl more sincerely. "Yeah, I'm afraid he did Susan…"

Susan was crying now, still holding the other woman tightly. "How could someone do something like that to you…"

The Vampire sighed then explained. "He dug around in my head until he found what I was afraid of, apparently he wasn't too happy I wouldn't help him."

Susan shook her head, still sobbing. "I'm so sorry Cass…"

Amelia watched these proceedings with no small measure of pride, Susan never had been one for petty bigotry. It was then as she watched the girl who meant more to her than life itself hug a Vampire, that an idea occurred to her. It would no doubt be a bit of a bumpy road….But then again Susan had always been close with Cass, so any trouble would be worth it in her mind.

She let the hug-fest continue for a time before chuckling and clearing her throat. "Why don't you two come into my office, we'll get the paperwork sorted, and I've been thinking on something. I believe I've got an idea for something you might both find interesting…"

* * *

The Next Morning

Hermione awoke to the nose twitching aroma of breakfast being prepared somewhere beyond her vision, even swatting absently at her nose absently as she clawed her way back to consciousness.

Though she couldn't really remember it just then, she had stayed up reading late into the night, and had been far too tired to make it to her room after, instead opting to collapse bonelessly onto the couch, asleep almost as soon as she landed.

Therefore finding herself in a completely unexpected and somewhat unfamiliar environment only added to her confusion, and she bolted upright staring about hurriedly as she attempted to determine her location.

Thankfully, for her nerves, she spotted Lily asleep in the recliner next to her and the events of the day before soon came rushing back, allowing her to slump back in relief. Finally what she was smelling permeated her brain and she looked about again, this time her gaze being drawn to the kitchen.

Where, quite to her surprise she found a familiar unruly mop of black hair working busily at the stove. Curious as to just what her friend was up to, she pushed to her feet, stretched and then proceeded to stumble her way over and into the kitchen.

"You made breakfast?" She asked confusedly, yawning slightly before settling herself in a chair at the table.

Her friend looked around at the sound of her voice and smiled wanly over his shoulder at her before returning his attention to the task in front of him. "Yeah, always was the one who cooked while I was back at the Dursleys. Reckoned I could put all that work to use and make a good impression this way…Though, at least this time I'll actually get to enjoy the meal myself." That last part was muttered but she still caught it.

She blinked as the implications of that statement sunk in. Standing, she silently made her way up to her friend who was stood quietly watching and waiting on the meal he was preparing. She wrapped her arms around him from behind careful not to trap his arms, before leaning her forehead against his upper back. "I'm _so_ sorry Harry…" She murmured, feeling her eyes well slightly at the thought of how his relatives had treated him.

She felt him shrug slightly though a modicum of tension also left his frame as she held him. "You didn't know, and you most certainly weren't among those forcing me to stay there." He chuckled slightly, his tone sad. "It'd be pretty silly to hold it against you now wouldn't it?"

Hermione gave him a final squeeze before releasing him and backing off, she wiped at the moisture in her eyes only to look up in surprise when she caught motion in her peripheral vision. There, standing in the door, looking relatively lightly disheveled was Harry's mother.

Eyeing her son first with wary eyes, Lily then turned her attention to the girl in front of her. "Is something wrong?" She asked, clearly concerned.

Harry looked around at the sound of his mother's voice, already smiling. "Nothing worth worrying about mum…"

His mother quirked a slight smile at his positive attitude, but followed it up by shaking her head. "I hardly think it's nothing if your friend is in tears over it hon."

Harry blinked in surprise before noting the redness around his friend's eyes. "Aw, sorry Hermione, I shouldn't have bothered you with it. It's just…some bad memories—mum." He explained haltingly giving Hermione a quick hug before returning to the stove. Clearly he wasn't yet used to calling someone that.

"Do you want to tell me about it?" Lily asked concerned.

He shook his head. "I already did…well, sorta. I was just thinking back a bit on the time I spent at the Dursleys. I'm really glad to be away from there."

Hermione turned a pleading look on the red head. "I'm sorry Mrs. Potter, I didn't understand just how bad it was there. You have to believe me, I would have—"

Lily smiled kindly at her, waving that off with a small gesture. "You've helped him far more than anyone else in his life Hermione, and from what I've seen thus far my son generally isn't one to talk about his misfortunes." She shrugged philosophically. "I'm willing to bet, that you and many others are among those Dumbledore made a point to spout off about those supposed 'Blood Wards"

Hermione smiled sheepishly, "Yeah, he kinda did."

Lily nodded easily before looking up towards the door opposite Harry across the kitchen. Kate had stumbled in yawning expansively, and Hermione felt her eyes widen. Kate, Harry's sister had just staggered dazedly into the room, buck bloody starkers…

Kate stood there blinking dumbly at them for a moment before noticing Hermione who waved at her uncertainly. From there her attention turned to Harry, who's back was still thankfully turned. Kate released a particularly girlish squeal before ducking back into the hallway, the sound of rapidly retreating feet filling the room.

Harry, naturally confused by the sudden noise looked up startled, however all were fortunate in that he managed to just miss his sister's exit. He raised a questioning brow at Hermione before shrugging and returning his attention to the work at hand.

Hermione shot the older woman a quizzical look and the Lily explained. "Me and Kate have lived here, just the two of us, for a long time Hermione. It's going to take some getting used to that we have others around the place now."

Hermione supposed she could understand that. Two women, living a ways away from the next nearest person, without the risk of visitors or nosey neighbours, clearly they'd grown a little casual in each other's company.

Harry continued to work for a time, Kate eventually returned, this time clothed in what could be described as casual sleepwear, being a pair of shorts and an overlong t-shirt. Finally, Harry finished the meal and began setting their servings on the table.

Kate kept glancing at her brother nervously, and upon determining that he had remained oblivious to what had happened, sagged visibly in relief. The dark haired girl smiled, clearly chagrined at Hermione before turning her attention to her meal.

"So, what are we doing today?" Kate asked, clearly striking out for normalcy a few minutes later.

Lily shrugged. "Well, if we're doing this thing, we have a lot of things that need to be handled before we can leave…" She looked pointedly at her daughter. "Not the least of which is that you'll need to resign from your job on grounds of a family emergency." Lily paused and huffed a sigh. "And it would probably be a good idea for us to stop by Old Lady Winter's and say goodbye and thank her for the help she gave us…."

Kate smiled sadly at her mother, the other two teens in the room weren't aware of it but Lily had become quite fond of the old medicine woman. "We'll be sure to letter her occasionally, and maybe we can come back some day and visit."

Harry watched this interaction with interest. "Just out of curiosity, how much will you two need to pack? I mean, it could be a long time before we manage to get back here, and all of your stuff is here isn't it?"

His mother shrugged, "We'll pull everything inside, either into the offices or into the warehouses. Then we'll lock everything down with wards and such before we leave. Only thing of note we need to worry about is ensuring the owner of the truck I need to finish today, actually comes by to pick up his vehicle. We'll likely only be packing a little, we can come back later and put anything else into storage with the help of any elves that might remain."

Hermione looked concerned at this last bit so Lily explained. "A couple of the Potter elves had been in the family long enough they had served James' great-grandfather. They were already very old by the time…well, the point is that some of them may have passed of old age."

The others' nodded understanding. "We girls may want to head into town to buy up some feminine supplies…"

The girls nodded easily at this, though none failed to notice the slight blush Harry got at this. He hadn't had much experience living among women who spoke so freely about things. Petunia would sooner chop off her hands then speak of feminine matters in front of Vernon or Dudley, let alone in front of Harry.

Harry for his part, hurriedly cast about for something else to discuss and pushed to his feet carrying his dishes over to the washer. "I'll uh—I'd like to let Hedwig out for a spot of hunting, will she be safe?"

His mother nodded, "She should be, familiar enchantments protect her, and out here nothing much really bothers snowies. She's a beautiful bird by the way."

Harry nodded happily as he lifted a very smug looking Hedwig from her perch. "Yeah, she's great isn't she, first gift I ever got. Hagrid bought her for me on our first visit to Diagon."

His mother smiled fondly at the bird before shaking her head. "Once you're done with that, would you be so good as to help Kate out once she gets back? She'll be moving things about and putting them into storage.

"Sure, shouldn't be a problem." He agreed before pacing out murmuring gently to his bird on his way outside.

Once he was out of earshot his mother turned her attention to Hermione, her expression questioning. Hermione picked up the implied query easily enough. "I got the impression early on that Harry has had it fairly carefully burned into him by the Dursleys that he has to be useful."

Lily scowled before tiredly rubbing her face, "Just—how bad was it, do you know?"

Hermione looked uncomfortable. "I—I know, I just think…." She huffed a breath and looked to her apologetically. "I think it'd be better if he was the one to tell you these things. He's a fairly private person, I don't think he'd appreciate me talking about it for him."

To Hermione's relief, Lily nodded easily. "Fair enough, I haven't earned that kind of trust yet, I know….As much as it pains me to admit it."

The younger girl from Britain smiled encouragingly. "You will soon enough. He's always been told good things about you by your friends back home. And thus far you've been really good to him. Just give him some time." She said gently getting to her feet and padding off with her dishes.

Lily nodded, though slumped somewhat in her chair shaking her head. "Tunie, just what have you been doing to my son?"

* * *

Kate sighed, hanging her coat back up on the rack inside the entryway, looking around her at her long time home. It was strange, she was not usually the sort to fall into melancholy. However today, as she returned from resigning her position at her job, and found the living room filled with packed luggage it seemed more real to her. She'd be leaving here, and she might never return.

Her mother had finished her repairs on the truck she'd been working on the day before, and the owner had come to pick it up a while ago. It was strange to think, that when it came down to it, their latest project of the time was really the only thing tying them to this place.

It made sense considering, and she had accepted this a long time ago. Even when they'd believe the Dark Lord of Great Britain dead and gone, when her mother hadn't remembered the truth, they'd wondered if they were still in danger. His followers would likely bear grudge for those who had defied their master.

This place was a bolt hole, a hiding place, as well as a place for her mother to forget her problems. Not a permanent home, despite the years they'd spent here. So when Harry had reentered their lives, everything had changed, but the primary imperative of their lives stayed the same. Family first.

And in this case that meant following Harry away from this place. Not that it bothered her as much as it might have. She'd never felt particularly attached to their home here. It was just….strange, all things considered.

She paused looking up at a small clatter as Hermione hauled her trunk out of the guest bedroom and into the living room. Harry as yet nowhere to be seen.

"Hey Hermione." She greeted, a touch cautiously. For all her feigned good humour and boisterousness, Kate was well aware this girl was a significant part of her brother's life and she knew Hermione felt something for him. Offending her was never going to be something Kate wished to do considering all that.

Hermione looked up at her and smiled, "Hello Kate, everything go well?"

Kate nodded, "Yes, how's everything going here, what else is there that still needs doing?"

Hermione shrugged, dropping her trunk with the rest of the luggage. "Not much left now I think, we are all packed. I think your mother is hoping to head out to Old Lady Winter's soon, hopefully she won't be busy."

Kate nodded. Old Lady Winter's community was very tight knit, and her place in their community irreplaceable, thus it was not unusual for her to be called upon at a moment's notice.

Hermione straightened stretching slightly. "Oh, right, and we still need to head into town with your mum to pick up essentials." Kate nodded agreement, she would have simply stopped off to buy some herself while she was out, but they hadn't had time at that point to figure out everything they needed.

"Okay, we'll go grab mom and let her know we're ready to head out and do those things. I'll pack the rest of my stuff later, though it looks like mom's already gone and gotten most of it." She noted pointing at a pink duffle.

Hermione nodded, clearly considering something, "You know, it just occurred to me, I don't know if I've seen you carrying a wand."

Kate blinked at the non-sequitur and Hermione explained. "I just—you were talking about picking up anything already packed and I tried to think of important things you might leave behind…"

Kate snorted amusement, and pulled up her sleeve by way of explanation, there secured to her forearm was a holster. At Hermione's questioning look Kate explained. "Mom taught me a long time ago to keep it concealed. She was…tense the first few years while I was growing up. I don't think she'd accepted that we really are safe here for the longest time."

She smirked shaking off those thoughts and dropped her sleeve again, clapping Hermione on the shoulder, drawing a surprised look from the girl. "Come on, enough of that, let's go grab mom and get this out of the way…" She turned and hurried from the room, after a brief and confused hesitation on Hermione's part she trailed after the other girl.

* * *

The first thing Harry noticed when the girls returned from their trip into town was Hermione's blush. It was prominent enough that he felt the need to inquire, "Hey Mione what's wrong?"

The girls sighed, obviously chagrined that he noticed. "It's nothing important Harry…"

He just shot her a look at that, "Hermione, if I said it was nothing important like that, would you believe me?" He asked, a touch of humour in his voice.

She groaned, "No, I don't suppose I would."

"So, what's bothering you?" He asked smiling.

Hermione hesitated. "Your mother—was worried that with us, and particularly Kate, going out into the world for the first time, that we girls might find ourselves in….trouble." Seeing his confused expression, she cringed and pressed on. "She uh—gave us "That Talk"

He winced, Harry had never actually gotten subjected to a formal version of "the talk", but he was well aware of it's contents. Thankfully he had sat through basic sex ed just like every other student back in primary school. Vernon and Petunia had actually happily signed him up in the hopes it would prevent or discourage him from "breeding".

He sighed. "Do I want to know?"

Hermione shuddered at the thought. "I've had this talk before, but never from another witch who wasn't Madam Pomfrey."

"That makes a difference I take it?"

She glanced about nervously. "Er—yes, yes it does. I—I'd rather not talk about it right now."

He nodded easily, changing the topic. "Okay, so what now? We've got everything that needed to be pulled inside, and we're all packed…not that you and I had much extra to do on that front." He noted, they hadn't after all had much of a chance to unload in the past day.

Hermione sagged in relief at the change in topic. "We're going to have supper next I believe, your mum and Kate were discussing it on the way home. Then us girls are going to head out and check things over one last time.".

Kate, he noticed, was blushing as well, though he pointedly ignored it. Unfortunately for all involved, Kate misinterpreted his lack of reaction. "Uh—you didn't tell him about the uh…thingy did you?"

Hermione groaned theatrically, "Honestly Kate, no! However, if you keep bringing it up, we're not going to have a choice in the matter."

Kate's blush deepened and she nodded before scurrying for the kitchen.

Harry just shook his head, mystified by the strangeness of girls, particularly those with starring roles in his life

* * *

 **Author's Note:** As ever thanks to Temporal Knight for his continued Beta/Pseudo Co-authory assistance. As ever he's been fantastic!

 **Recommendation(s) of the week:** Hmmm, trying to decide just what to unleash you lot upon this week…. How about "Dark Lord Rising" By AndrewsQuill sadly unfinished and…."Don't Panic" and it's sequel "Okay NOW Panic" by boz4PM. Lord of the Rings fics which were rather enjoyable for the sheer amount of work the author put into the linguistics alone. Both finished I believe, although sadly the author hasn't written anything additional in a while….


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's Note:** So….I may have forgotten just what a creepy note Dark Lord Rising ended on when I recommended it last week….Sorry about that. _Might_ take a week off to recuperate after those rewrites, so don't be surprised if there's nothing next week. Then again I might surprise myself so….we'll see?

 **Reviews:** Just want to say thanks for the reviews, they help keep me going.

 **Chapter 13: Exodus**

Old Lady Winter gave Lily Potter, as she was now known, a firm hug before pulling back to survey her long time friend at arms length. "Well, Lily, I'll say this much, you certainly look more lively than I've seen you in a long time. I think all this has actually been good for you in it's own strange manner."

Harry watched his mother quirk a rueful smile. "Yeah, I'm pretty happy about it all told. Not that I wouldn't be glad to be free of the headaches." His mother agreed readily enough.

"Headaches?" The old healer asked concerned, but his mother just laughed.

"Nothing to do with the ritual or the charm I promise, my son's life has been an adventure to say the least, the actions of some of the supposed 'responsible' adults in his life have been...frustrating."

Winter nodded, chuckling knowingly. "Ah, so it's like that is it? Well, I'm not sure I can be of any help there."

Harry turned his attention away from the conversation as it began to head back towards generalities. Old Lady Winter had come by the house early the morning of their planned departure. Kate and Lily in particular were happy to see her, though he was careful to voice his own gratitude for her assistance as well. They each had taken turns getting washed and fed for their trip this morning, in the hopes of giving everyone a fair shot at speaking with the old medicine woman.

Hermione was the last to go. For a time Lily, Kate and Winter had reminisced and spoken of plans to see each other again. Then talk had turned to the ritual and the healer's part in it.

Harry was stirred from his reflections on the morning's events by Hermione padding into the room, her arms up behind her head as she worked to force her hair into a rough ponytail. Harry couldn't help but stare a little, her hair wet and smooth from the shower, her face still slightly flushed from the heat of the water. It all managed to catch him a bit flat footed.

He didn't often think of it intentionally as these things increased in incidence, but his best friend was not so plain as she seemed to think herself. He was not unfamiliar with finding members of the opposite gender attractive, however something about thinking of his best friend that way always tweaked his conscience. His mind telling him that it wasn't respectful for him to dwell on her physical attributes as much as he might sometimes wish.

It wasn't easy however, he spent most days, even before this venture, in her company. And Hermione possessed many qualities, not merely physical in nature that appealed to him. She was smart, kind and generous, and despite the incident the summer previous he tended to think of her as utterly loyal. The aforementioned...failure in communication, merely being the consequence of her well meaning obedience to an elder she should have been able to trust implicitly.

Harry may not have been sorted into Hufflepuff, but on a personal level loyalty and honesty were attributes he admired and appreciated greatly. His best friend had both.

Two days previous when his mother had questioned Hermione on planned sleeping arrangements he had not been so far out of earshot as the two women had supposed. He was reluctant to admit it even to himself, but there was no small appeal to the thought of being intimate with Hermione.

He shook off the momentary pause his friend's arrival had caused, doing his best to hide his blush. "Morning, Mione." He greeted happily. "Have a good lie in?"

She smirked fondly at him. "Well enough. You know me, I prefer to be up and doing generally but the last few days have been...stressful."

He frowned slightly, "Sorry about all-"

She waved off his apology. "Honestly Harry, we've been over this, I won't pretend it's been easy, but I don't mind all things considered. Now, why don't you quit your worrying, and tell me what's for breakfast?" She said pointedly diverting them away from any guilty consciences.

He smiled in gratitude, knowing precisely her intent. "Pancakes, yours are on the counter, I put a warming charm on them. Mum's got maple syrup if you want to try some?"

She cocked an eyebrow at that pacing towards the meal in question. Syrup was not uncommon in the UK, especially at Hogwarts, however it was seldom the variety so often associated with the nation they were currently in. She'd never had occasion to have this particular variety before. After pouring a small portion she took an exploratory bite and made a small happy sound before digging in.

Harry watched her idly for a time before his attention was once again diverted by the arrival of Kate at the table the other two had sat themselves at. "You two ready to go?" She asked.

He nodded, "Our stuff was basically still packed from before, just waiting on you guys and for Hermione to finish her meal." He assured her and she bobbed her head in agreement.

They were silent for a moment before Kate smiled broadly. "So, _Hawaii_ …" She said savouring the word. "I've always wanted to leave Churchill, but I didn't expect my first trip away from the homestead to be to paradise."

He chuckled. "I've heard it's nice, but that's about it. My relatives didn't travel abroad, and even if they had they wouldn't take me with them."

She nodded, "That's about what I hear too. Surprised to find out we have a place out there. Sounds like mom was surprised too."

Harry just nodded agreement. "From what I've heard of him, it suited Dad right down to the ground him wrapping the property up as a secret like that - a gift and a prank in one package."

"What was he like? Me and mom haven't really had a chance to talk about him since her memory came back." She noted a touch sadly.

"I don't know as much as I'd like…" he admitted, thinking about it. "A prankster, and although I hate to admit it, if what I've heard is correct a _bit_ of a bully back in school, though mum broke him of that." He paused grimacing slightly as he recalled Snape's memories. "Had a group of friends called the marauders, pranksters all of them. The two I've spoken with about him said he was basically in love with mum from the moment he set eyes on her. You already knew he was good at transfiguration, so that's not news, but he and two of his friends became Animagi as well."

Her eyebrows rose in surprise as Hermione rose to carry her dishes to the washer. "Really, I've heard that's fairly hard, why'd they do that?"

"Because, your father was nothing if not loyal, and his friend needed help." Lily said pacing over as Old Lady Winter let herself out.

Harry nodded agreement. "One of his friends, Remus Lupin, was a werewolf and they wanted to keep him company while he was changed."

Kate barked a laugh. "Really his name was Remus Lupin?"

Harry quirked an eyebrow at her, "Yeah, why?"

"Remus and Romulus? The wolf raised children who founded Rome? Lupin, kind of like Lupine? Was he always a werewolf? His parents basically named him Wolfy Mcwolf Face."

Harry chuckled, as that clicked in his head. "As far as I know, no he wasn't always a werewolf. Though his name is somewhat ironic now you point it out."

Lily shook her head in amusement. "I pointed it out to him once me and your father got involved, apparently it caused him a great deal of consternation. Now, you guys get your stuff out to the truck, me and Winter are going to walk the ward line and make sure it's solid before we go."

Harry and the others gathered their belongings and familiars in relative silence, their minds largely elsewhere. It was only as they were preparing to climb into the SUV that Harry couldn't help but chuckle again, he shot his sister a look. "Wolfy McWolf Face? Really?"

"Hey, it was off the top of my head, you try coming up with gold under those conditions!"

* * *

Cassandra Anders, ex-auror, and now, full time vampire, stood uncertainly on the front step of the Bones family manor outside of Lands End. The Ossuary, as it was known, was the ancestral home of clan Bones. For a long time it had laid dormant and abandoned, ever since Amelia's parents had been killed, she and her siblings splitting up among the remaining Bones properties in the British Isles. With the destruction of the rest of the Bones family estates in the last war, and the deaths of their inhabitants, Amelia had taken to living in her South Kensington apartment until that fateful attack a few nights ago.

That house was still undergoing repair, the spell damage being far too extensive to repair quickly, not to mention the costs associated with so many destroyed keepsakes and heirlooms as well as having to recast the wards.

The Ossuary however was undamaged, and thanks to some recently commissioned upgrades, its wards were now back up to date with the current standard for an abode of it's size and standing. Cass could attest to that, despite being allowed through them by the head of the family, the wards still detected her new _differently alive_ state, and has given her a good suntan for her passage.

The strongholds of ancient and noble houses were often protected far beyond the norm for a wizarding household. Cassandra was glad that she had permission to pass within.

The previous day, Amelia had taken her and Susan aside at her office and made an official offer of employment to her. Something which had surprised the fledgling Vampire greatly. Amelia had explained her reasoning seriously once Susan had gotten over her excitement at the prospect. "Look, Cass, you've shown you're not just another blood drinker. You managed to find your way home in your new born state and refrain from feeding on the people you found there. That was despite the feeding frenzy all fledgling Vampires experience. In addition, prior to your...change, you showed a great deal of loyalty to my niece, fighting to protect her in a hopeless battle. The Ministry might forbid me employing you as an Auror, but they can't forbid me from employing you as a bodyguard."

Cass had still possessed her doubts, however it had been Susan and her sincere pleas to her which had finally made her accept. Which was why she was here now.

Waiting as the doorbell rang it's long chiming tune before the door cracked open and a bleary eyed elf stared up at her. "You'd be the Vampire Mistress Bones told us to expect then? Coffin or bed?" He demanded brusquely and she blinked in surprise.

"Er-what?"

He sighed in a put upon manner. "Coffin or bed, we can provide either to accommodate your sleeping needs. It's just we need to know so we can dig-"

"Oscar! How many times have I told you to let someone else answer the door?" A high pitched female voice exclaimed as another elf, padded up along side the wrinkled old elf at the door. "And what a thing to ask right from the start, honestly! Have you forgotten all the manners you learned at your mother's knee?"

He itched his head considering. "No, I just don't see the point any more, 'cept for Mistresses Bones that is."

The second elf shooed him away irately before turning her attention back to the very confused Vampire standing at the door. "Sorry Mistress, he's a little set in his ways. Just step inside and we'll get you situated."

"Er right, thanks...I uh-bed, I think." She offered a little concerned by the use of the term 'dig' Oscar had used in reference to finding one.

"Very good Mistress, we'll have your room ready in a moment, may I take your bags? Mistress Amelia is in the kitchen I believe?"

She agreed readily, a little unused to dealing with any sort of organized personal wait staff. The second elf who identified herself as Jiffy, soon led her, minus her luggage, through the manor into the kitchens.

There it was that they found the Director seated at an island surrounded by hurrying bands of elves offering treats and inquiring about chores they were involved in. Cass had seen elves prior to today, it was hard not to having gone to Hogwarts, but she'd never seen so many in one place before. Then again, she'd never had occasion to visit the castle's kitchens herself.

Amelia looked up from where she was addressing a particularly bouncy elf as she approached. "Ah, Cass, there you are. Sorry about the...excitement," She said smiling ruefully gesturing at the excitable swarm of elves around her. "It turns out you can't just return a manor to full working order at a moment's notice. Add to that Oscar got in an argument with the Goblins when they came to install the wards and well….things are taking longer than expected."

"It's a very nice place ma'am." The Vampire assured her.

Amelia surprised her with a toothy smile. "I know, I love this house, I grew up here, haven't seen it in years though. Sorry Susan isn't here to meet you though, she's still asleep, won't be up for another hour or so."

Cassandra waved that off. "It's not a problem ma'am."

Amelia nodded considering a small clipboard an Elf held up to her, bouncing slightly on it's heels. "How about I walk you through the defences, so you know what you'll have to manage while I'm on duty?"

"I'm game boss, if you are?"

Amelia nodded and pushed to her feet before leading her from the room. "There's not actually that much to tell really. The defences for a house of this type are fairly standard, the perimeter wall keeps the average citizen from wandering the grounds, and it's spelled to be more durable than it would be normally. The wards are the best Gringotts offers and include a few of the house's originals to boot. However I mostly feel I should mention the more...eccentric defences my ancestors included."

"Eccentric ma'am?" Cass asked curious at the tone her boss adopted thinking of them.

Amelia sighed. "Beyond the obvious joke associated with my family name there is a reason the family estate is known as the Ossuary. Hector Bones, Lord of the this estate some five hundred years ago was a necromancer and the family estate's defences reflected that. While we've long since cleared away the worst of the things he left behind a small number of...defenders linger and can be called upon in extremis to defend the house." She explained as delicately as she could.

Cass smiled at her weakly, "Please tell me it's not zombies ma'am, that might be a little too weird even for me…" Necromancy had a strongly negative reputation, even in the wizarding world, one which was well deserved. Even at the height of the last wizarding war fifteen years ago, You-Know-Who had only skimmed the surface of what necromancy was capable of. Inferi, were the least of what that black art could achieve and she strongly wished to avoid having to interact with anything too foul.

Amelia smiled sympathetically. "Zombies? Oh, you mean inferi right, animated corpses? No, nothing like that thank the heavens. No, we have a bone giant which can be raised to guard the grounds if needs be, though I don't recall matters ever became so severe here that it was needed. I was actually referring to the watchmen. You see a few of those sworn into our families service in those days agreed to bind their souls to this place until either they were released or the family became extinct so that the Ossuary might always have those who watched over it." She explained soberly. "We have a total of six watchmen ghosts who patrol the grounds and the forest outside the wall. They simply watch for intruders and will inform you should trouble arise."

That sounded more promising and Cassandra nodded. "I'm also considering hiring additional staff and guards however that comes with risks all it's own of course." Amelia grumbled.

Cassandra understood, it was difficult to find those seeking employment these days who'd be willing to subject themselves to the level of scrutiny and security which would be required to prevent infiltrators, or subversion via imperius curse.

Amelia stopped and her smile returned. "You'll be glad to know the elves have taken your condition into account. The windows of the estate are enchanted to prevent any sunlight which passes through them from burning you. We also have the larder stocked with enough animal blood to keep you going and we bought out Diagon Alley's current stock of blood replenishment potions as well. I have also arranged for Susan to practice brewing the potion herself just in case. Either she or myself should be able to provide it at need."

Cassandra blinked in surprise. "Thank you ma'am, I-I haven't needed to feed on human blood yet and I'm not eager to start."

"That's what I thought." Amelia agreed before becoming more sober again, sighing gustily. "I admit, as much effort as we've put into protecting this place, and as impressive as it's defences are, I still find myself worried Cass."

"Yes Director?" The vampire asked curiously.

Amelia smiled wanly at her. "This estate is far too well known to hide under fidelius, and no defence is perfect, I have taken precautions to ensure we do not become trapped here should the worst happened but…"

"But you still worry." Cassandra finished.

Amelia nodded. "We've struck blows against the enemy's efforts recently, and he will not let that go unanswered for long. My hope is that this place will deter him enough to make him go elsewhere instead. Still I wonder…" She sighed. "Maybe it'd be better to get Susan away from all this?"

Cassandra considered her employer. "I think ma'am that I don't know enough to make a recommendation in that matter." She hedged.

Amelia gave a start, refocusing on her. "Of course, sorry, I was merely considering my options. I know some are already leaving these shores, just as they did in the last war. It was not something I had considered for Susan until recently." She shook her head. "Come on, enough of that, let me familiarize you with the grounds. By then Susan should be up."

* * *

Narcissa and Draco had a less pleasant start to their day, once again waking up bound together in their own home, as they waited to die. However to their great relief this state of affairs soon improved when, a family elf, originally forbidden on pain of death from assisting its masters had finally worked up the courage to defy the Dark Lord.

In times past the elf would have been fortunate to avoid being berated by the youngest Malfoy for not assisting in a timely fashion, however matters had changed somewhat. Draco and his mother had possessed a truly excessive amount of time to reflect on their past convictions and indeed to simply languish in captivity. And so it was that, due to a great deal of relief at being freed, Draco Malfoy did something greatly out of character for himself and patted the elf affectionately on the back before hurrying off in search of a bathroom.

Narcissa had been in a similar need to use the facilities after so long bound up, but she too had stopped long enough to display her gratitude for the elf's actions before hurrying off. Tipsy, was greatly confused by this sudden change in character and so stood there blinking in confusion for a great deal of time before returning to work.

Upon the return of her masters Tipsy waited with a tray of food and drink, standing patiently as they began to discuss matter of import. "Well, that's a bloody relief," Draco grumbled tiredly as he flopped onto the couch in the living room. "I was starting to get really sore…"

Narcissa sipped as delicately as her shaking hands would allow at a cup of water, more powerful beverage being foregone in favour of the basic, life giving liquid. "I too feel as you do Draco, thank you again Tipsy for your intervention."

The little elf bobbed a hesitant curtsy, "Tipsy bees glad to serves Mistress."

Narcissa nodded and took another sip, "All that being said, I must confess I now find myself at a loss as to what to do next…"

Draco opened his mouth, before closing it again with a grimace, nodding sour agreement. "We cannot seek father's assistance...as that would be as good as once again turning ourselves over to- _his_ mercies. I can't believe he did that to us!"

His mother chuckled darkly, "I do not think the Dark Lord cares over much for protocol darling. Except when it serves his purposes. The Dark Lord wished to make an example of your father and used us to do so."

Her son grimaced again. "I do not know what to do mother...after what has happened I no longer feel safe within my own home. He knows this place as well as we do and has tampered extensively with the wards I am sure-"

Narcissa snorted dark amusement, "Indeed he did, it was among the first things he did upon setting foot upon the grounds. Right after he conjured himself a new throne…" She paused considering. "But your point has merit. Our options are limited. The Dark Lord and his followers now wish as an object lesson to impress upon your father when he eventually escapes prison. Any who support that faction would not be safe harbour for us."

She shook her head. "Our family lines were devastated in the last war. The only relations with close connection to our family are dead, abroad or in league with the Dark Lord. The only other options available to us are...difficult."

Her son cocked his head at her in curiosity. "I don't understand, surely our funds are more than enough to-"

His mother sighed, cutting him off. "With the Dark Lord's return your father restricted our access to the family vaults to a mere stipend. And our remaining options will be only limitedly affected by monetary wealth anyways. The first option is also the most likely to fail, fleeing the country would provide a modicum of safety until the Dark Lord learned of our survival. He has hunted traitors and enemies alike across the globe, should he prioritize our deaths highly enough no amount of distance would protect us…" She took another sip. "Until recently we could have attempted to approach the head of house Black for protection. However as you know your aunt saw to the end of that possibility."

Her son grimaced, but nodded his understanding. He did not relish the idea of approaching Sirius Black or any of the other side on bended knee, but there was no denying that he would have been a viable solution to their problems.

"Which really only leave two additional options, neither very good. The first would be to find and approach Harry Potter as he is most likely to inherit the position of head of house." Here Draco scowled again, he knew full well that so long as it had been Sirius Black at the reins his chances of inheriting that title had been nil. "Unfortunately as of the last discussion I heard regarding his whereabouts Potter appears to have gone to ground and none on either side can find him. Which leaves us with one final option."

Her son considered that before sighing and setting down his own drink, rubbing tiredly at his eyes. "You mean _her_ , your sister, I assume?"

"Andromeda, yes. I think it is time I see about contacting my sister at long last. Let us hope she is in a forgiving mood. Title or no, Andromeda is still a Black by birth, and vengeance always was our part and parcel."

* * *

The first in a series of short stopovers on their journey found the newly expanded Potter clan at Winnipeg International airport. The delay in their journey came as a result of their being no scheduled series of flights from Churchill Manitoba to Honolulu Hawaii. Thus they found themselves waiting patiently in the airport for the next connecting flight to their destination which would take them first to Vancouver then on to Hawaii.

It being around the lunch hour Harry and Hermione had ventured off in search of food while they waited, the brunette murmuring something about checking one of the concourse book stores along the way. Something told Lily they would not be back soon if that look in the girl's eye was anything to go by.

This was actually a fortunate turn of events as Lily was looking to speak in relative privacy with her daughter whom she had not had a proper opportunity to touch base with in some time.

"How are you doing Katie? You holding up okay with all this?" Her mother asked gently, happy to see her daughter was smiling to herself.

Kate nodded eagerly. "Yup, it was a bit stressful there for a while I'll admit." She allowed referring of course to her mother's struggle against the memory charm. "But all in all I'm great. Long lost baby brother? Getting away from Churchill? I'm good!" She noted her mother's amused expression and calmed slightly. "How about you, how are you doing?"

Lily sighed. "It's complicated, on the one hand I am beyond ecstatic that your brother is alive. On the other hand our lives just got a whole lot more complicated. It would be one thing if I could still trust some of the people back home to help us but…"

"Yeah, it sounds like most of the good guys are following that Dumbledore guy. _Bastard-_ " Kate hissed under her breath. "Where does he get off thinking he can mess with people's lives like this?"

Lily nodded. "Not all of them are following Dumbledore, but yes enough of them are to make the situation complicated. In times past I would have sought out one of your father's friends...But Sirius is dead, and Remus seems to be enamoured of Dumbledore's lead from what I've heard. The only one of the old crowd I feel certain we can trust is Amelia, but she's got her own concerns right now."

"Well, it could be worse, we could be forced to head back there, instead we get to go out in search of people to help Harry. Stopping in Hawaii of all places along the way." Her daughter noted, a mischievous grin on her face as she poked her mother in the side with her elbow.

Her mother couldn't help but laugh a bit at that. "Yes it could be worse, although I do wish we didn't have to fly coach." She said shifting in her seat with a theatrical wince.

It was her daughter's turn to chuckle. "Yeah, as exciting as all this is I'm not enjoying sitting cramped in an airplane. There has to be a better way to travel."

Lily nodded. "Usually we'd portkey, but your brother is rightly concerned about people monitoring that method, even out here. And nobody wants to fly that far by broom." She noted casting her eyes about cautiously for any mundane who might wander by and overhear. "A few of our creations over the years were able to fly though none of them were really intended for long distances except…" She shook that memory off. _That_ pipedream had been absurd to say the least. Even James had not been able to conjure a good reason to pursue _that_ dream.

Then again, back then they hadn't been intending to travel the world.

Kate was nodding. "Harry was telling me on the flight about the old Ford Anglia. Did he mention that to you?"

Lily shook her head and Kate laughed. "Guess it kinda paled in comparison to the rest of the mess he lives with? Apparently back in his second year he and one of his friends had to _borrow_ the vehicle from Mr Weasley in order to get to Hogwarts on time, ended up crashing the thing. He told me the thing saved his bacon a few months later though, came riding to the rescue when he being chased by an acromantula or some such?"

Her mother sighed in exasperation, there were far too many life threatening situations in her son's life for her liking. "I'm going to have a very serious talk with some of the so called adults back in England. Dumbledore first, then my _dear_ sister and her husband. I might have a few choice words for the others though."

Kate nodded. "So long as you don't mind me tagging along, I'd like to ask them why they thought they could get away with doing some of that crap too."

"Deal," Her mother shook her head. "But enough of that, you are on your first adventure away from home, we shouldn't be so fixated on the bad things in our lives. Tell me, what do you want to do when we get to Hawaii?"

Kate lit up again, "Well, I was thinking we should start with some surfing and then-"

Cornelius Oswald Fudge, was quite possibly the biggest horse's arse Amelia Bones had the great misfortune of encountering. No, worse than that, he was the metaphorical "Bloody Arse Monkey" that had hauled itself, clawing, kicking, screaming and spitting, out of Dumbledore's hairy wrinkled old backside.

No man, could possibly be so stupid and yet live could they? In theory any natural born man, who was not a magical or scientific abomination, who was so excruciatingly hopeless when without carefully dispensed directions from on high, should have died early on through sheer failure to breath due to lack of brain power.

This was what a severely irate Director of the DMLE was thinking as the man in question tucked tail and ran after yet another verbal thrashing delivered by herself. He had come in here because _someone_ in her department had blabbed the details on Cassandra Anders new state of unlife and had the audacity to complain about her being even allowed in the building. When she found out just which idiot had spoken out of turn she was going to hang them by their intestines.

Apparently whoever the idiot had blabbed to had complained in turn to Fudge, likely adding a huge incentive in galleons to the bargain judging by the greedy desperation in his piggy little eyes when he confronted her.

The verbal spanking she had delivered had basically centered around her need to be able to bring in and detain whomever she wanted and that, once again, if he had a problem with the way she ran her department, he could have her sacked. Assuming he could rustle up the votes to do so. Naturally both she and he had known, that as before when they had these confrontations, he was in no position to have her ousted.

Still it was incredibly frustrating to consider that she was forced to take any sort of orders from a man who was so utterly without a modicum of backbone, loyalty or the base level of cunning typically inherent in a politician.

She managed to calm herself down a bit, Fudge, was on his way out. There was no denying it now. With every passing meeting of the Wizengamot more and more of its sitting members were calling for an accelerated vote of non confidence. The question was no longer _would_ Fudge be ousted, but _when_ he would be forced out.

It was an event she both looked forward to and dreaded at the same time. She knew, quite well, that despite the efforts of Fudge, Dumbledore and those Death Eaters on the council, she was on the short list to succeed him as Minister for Magic.

On the one hand they would, one way or the other, be free of the bumbling fool, and even the Ministry of Magic would be hard pressed to find someone as corrupt, incompetent or blatantly stupid to replace him.

On the other hand, the monumental task of reversing the damage done by that idiot would be an almost insurmountable task, particularly during wartime. Many a leader had lead ignoble and underappreciated careers because they were hobbled by their predecessors mistakes. She hoped she would not be joining those ranks any time soon.

She even knew the likely candidate. Steven Rosier was the current favourite among the Death Eaters who pretended to be civilized human beings. While Adaras Macnair was the favourite among those who thought that attempting to maintain the illusion of civilization was the province of children and charlatans.

Dumbledore's faction favoured Elphias Doge, while much of what remained favoured her. Though there was a certain, strange underground faction which supported an entirely unwilling Arthur Weasley for the position. He had apparently quite loudly experienced a panic attack upon being nominated by some unknown individual. Still, even so he'd likely be a step up from most of the others running, to say nothing of Fudge.

Unfortunately as Fudge's reign of stupidity came to a sudden cataclysmic squelching end, she found herself needing to make several considerations.

First and foremost of which was, _who the bloody hell is going to take my place here?_ It wasn't that she believed herself irreplaceable, so much as that not all were even willing to take up the position.

It was true what she'd said to Tonks not long ago, she could easily see the young Auror one day sitting behind this desk. However, as fond of the woman as she was, she was practical enough to know it was not this day. No, that time was a while off. A decade, if Amelia were to make a bet, considering Tonks' recent performance.

Hestia Jones, wasn't a bad sort, or even a bad copper. Though she lacked Tonks' particular _zing_ , she still lacked the experience needed just as much as the metamorph did.

Proudfoot, was similar, not really a standout officer, but not bad at his job by any means. Still even with his more extensive experience he wasn't suited for this job.

And if he was out, so too was John Dawlish, not the least of which because she strongly suspected the buffoon was the idiot who had blabbed about Cass to the bigots.

Which really left two real options. Rufus Scrimgeour, had seniority it was true, and the political experience to be able to navigate the rapids. Unfortunately, he also lacked the moral fibre she wanted in her successor. Oh, Rufus definitely wasn't corrupt, at least in the traditional sense. But he was about the most hidebound, uptight, political old fool she had in the department. With just about as many years on the force as Alastor Moody, Rufus had survived by riding on the coattails of others, rather than by sheer guts and grit like Moody had.

And so she came to Kingsley. Prior to the reveal of Shacklebolt's involvement in the Order of the Phoenix, Amelia would have had no qualms about nominating him. Though Kingsley had indeed resigned from the Order at her request, it still irritated her that an otherwise, experienced, intelligent and thoughtful officer had erred so. Where she could forgive Tonks and Hestia for the same sin, it was harder to do so with Kingsley due to his greater experience and know how. Still, he wasn't a bad man, and if you could say anything about him he was honest.

She sighed, sitting back in her chair massaging her head in the hopes of ridding herself of her headache. There were, quite simply, too many things going on in her life right then.

And as she sat there, she couldn't help but fantasize about the notion of somehow physically removing the excess thoughts from her head and packing them away for later.

Ha! Hadn't Harry mentioned something about destroying a memory container belonging to Voldemort? She couldn't help but wonder just how such a thing worked. Did it work like she imagined, removing thoughts and memories from his mind and storing them somewhere else?

If so, she could just imagine how useful it would be to get her hands on some of the enemies own thoughts. Why just imagine the intelligence she could-

She brought herself up short and blinked in surprise. How in the name of Merlin's wrinkled buttocks had she forgotten about that? Harry had taunted the Dark Lord himself with the fact of such a devices destruction, and the Dark Lord had been furious.

Just what _was_ such a device?

She sighed as she realized yet another bevy of thoughts and questions had joined the throng within her mind thanks to this and she made a notation on her parchment. She'd need to ask Croaker about that...

* * *

Around the world, on a aircraft streaking it's way across the sky towards Vancouver British Columbia, Harry and Lily sat in the pair of seats they had acquired together in the airplane's first class cabin. Lily had applied a low level privacy rune to their particular portion of the cabin allowing the four of them to communicate in secret without the plane being affected by any excess magical energy.

They had enjoyed each others company for much of the flight thus far, simply catching up on things, and discussing times gone by. Lily had shared a story which was equal parts terrifying and hilarious. Apparently at a young age, whilst on a walk Kate had broken from her mother's grasp and streaked off towards a large "Teddy Bear" she had spotted rooting through a dumpster.

The panicked Lily had stunned the unfortunate and curious bear, who found itself wondering just what the little creature running towards it was. This had required her to obliviate a watching tourist of that incident (something she found ironic and distasteful now) and which had resulted in the police putting out a request that whomever it was who possessed an unregistered Tranquilizer Gun to please show up and declare their weapon with the proper authorities. Apparently that bear had been quite dazed for a good three days following the overpowered stunner.

It was understandable of course, the bear, once it had regained it's composure at being rushed by a small screaming creature would likely have responded as a bear was want to do. Something which would have, no doubt, been fatal for young Kate. Old Lady Winter had laughed quite a bit at that story Harry was told, and Kate received the longest grounding of her life.

Now it was his turn to share. "Alright, your turn, why don't you tell me about your friends?" Lily suggested, smiling still from her own story.

"Uh, alright, what would you like to know?" Harry asked uncertainly. It had been this way every time she'd asked a question of his this flight. He just wasn't used to speaking of himself with anyone beyond a select few yet. Hopefully that could change, Lily reflected.

"Well how about their names? A little bit about them?" She asked grinning slightly at his reticence.

Harry nodded absently as he considered that. "Well you already know Hermione...so I guess I should tell you about Ron?"

Lily nodded, a touch more seriously. "Ron Weasley correct? You've mentioned him before. I can't say it was all positive though…" She remarked a touch warily.

Harry sighed, nodding. "Yeah, I know. He's a good enough bloke most of the time, and he is probably the one I spend the most time with aside from Hermione. He just...well he's got a bit of a jealous streak and...he's not always stuck by me. Still, he tries and sometimes that's what counts the most right?" Harry suggested weakly. He didn't like having to defend Ron to his mother, not the least of which because sometime he honestly wondered if he should be defending the boy at all.

Lily bobbled her head noncommittally but didn't say anything further. Clearly her son valued Ron's friendship on some level, but he equally clearly harboured some doubts about him. She'd let him think on that on his own for the moment. "Okay, who else?"

Harry brightened slightly. "Well there's always Ginny I suppose? She is Ron's only sister. Nice enough, loyal, had a bit of a crush on me a few years back, but she seems to have gotten over it...Bit of a temper, thankfully that's never been directed at me. She's mean with a hex. I'm told she looks a bit like you actually..." He paused considering that then shrugged before continuing.

"Then there's Neville of course, you know about him right? Neville Longbottom?" He asked, before continuing when she nodded agreement. "Loyal, just about the nicest guy you could ever meet. Braver than you'd think looking at him, bit of a self confidence issue." Harry admitted grudgingly. Then smirked in amusement. "We sometimes call him the "plant whisperer". He manages things in herbology that make Professor Sprout jealous."

Lily chuckled at that and motioned him to continue, and he paused as a small fond smile curved his lips. "Well I suppose that just leaves Luna really. Luna Lovegood, nicest girl you could ever meet, never has a bad thing to say about anyone. Has a bit of a hard time making real friends though. She's a bit...quirky, I guess is the word. Spends a lot of time reading her father's articles in the Quibbler if that tells you anything. Still, she's braver than most Gryffindors I know and I think she'd give Hermione a run for her money in the brains department."

Lily nodded, happier with these other friends mentioned. She had her concerns about the Weasley boy, but by all accounts the others were more certain friends to her son. She hoped to meet them some day.

They lapsed into silence after a while and she sat pondering what he'd told her. Eventually her thoughts coming to the friend who had accompanied her boy on his escape from England.

Hermione, was a bit of an enigma to her she had to be honest. Clearly the girl was intelligent, loyal and honest, which were always a bonus in her books. Had she not been told otherwise she would have assumed that her son and the brunette were together. Now, she had to admit that sometimes people just didn't see each other that way. However judging by the glances she'd seen pass between the two, she'd bet her last galleon that wasn't the problem in this case. Strange...Then again, perhaps not, considering how reserved her son was.

Still, it was clear that her son was not entirely lacking for good friends, something she was glad of. She'd had her own friends at Hogwarts, some as close as he apparently was with his own. Others...not so much.

For many years she'd considered James fortunate to have the marauders. Sirius who always had James' back, since even before his own family had cast him out. Remus who always watched out for them and kept them out of _too_ much trouble… She couldn't help but feel more than a little anger at the last however. Wormtail. Peter Pettigrew, had you asked her before that night she would have assumed him as loyal as the others. A little more withdrawn a little less outgoing or courageous, but still loyal. Tragically that impression had proved incorrect.

She hoped her son had better luck in friends that James had.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Once again thank you to beta/pseudo-coauthor thingamajig Temporal Knight! If not for his efforts things would have gone off the rails a long time ago.

 **Recommendation(s):** Hmmm good question….How about "Always and Forever" by lorelover, and… "Escape" By Singularoddities. Both are in progress Harry/Hermione stories. And as an added bonus this week, for the star wars fans out there who like cool art, check out . Some really good conceptual models I feel are worth talking about.


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's Note:** Okay so life's a little hectic on this end for both myself and my beta. So updates may be slower in coming, but are I assure you on the way.

So I'll just go ahead and warn you now, this is a bit of a transition chapter, but the next one should be really satisfying.

Just a heads up to anyone reading, I'm always on the lookout for people who I can discuss different fandoms with! Star Wars (movies, games etc..), Fallout, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Battlestar etc, etc...So if any of you guys are into that stuff maybe let me know so we can chat and throw ideas around some time?

 **Reviews:** As ever reviews are not required, but are greatly appreciated as they're half the fuel that keeps me going.

* * *

GMT 7:00 P.M

Amelia swayed slightly with the rocking motion of the elevator as it descended into the depth of the Department of Mysteries. At this hour, it was quite, aside from the rattle of the elevator around her. The workers had long since gone home for the day, and only a few security personnel and unspeakables remained on duty overnight.

She couldn't help but wonder if the all encompassing silence this department typically cultivated was intentional or not, it certainly served to enhance the disquiet one felt when approaching the unspeakables domain.

She stepped off the elevator to find a single unspeakable waiting for it so they could make their way home. "Excuse me, can you tell me where Director Croaker is?"

The unspeakable considered her silently from beneath her shadowed cowl for a time before pointing deeper within the department, "main office, last door, keep quiet." the voice murmured before stepping into the elevator without further consideration.

Amelia shook her head as the elevator rattled back up out of sight. The unspeakables always had been an odd bunch. Most intellectual types tended to enjoy speaking about what they had learned in her experience, but down here it was exactly the opposite. Every secret, every scrap of knowledge, important or not, was horded jealously. Only occasionally did the department allow a small piece of information out in the form of an official release. A new potion, a new spell, some forgotten lore.

She reflect on this as she passed deeper within the department. She could count on her hand the number of times the unspeakables had released a new discovery to the public since she'd taken the director's chair. Though she wasn't fool enough to think that in anyway gave a true indication of just how much they knew. They undoubtedly had secrets they hoped never to share with the wizarding world at large.

True to the Unspeakable's, admittedly brief word, she found her quarry in the last door on the left in the main research office concealed in the deepest reaches of the department. Croaker appeared tired, then again he had likely been at work for the majority of the day already, however she had been right in assuming he was the type to work late into the night.

He glanced up at her, before brightening somewhat at her presence. "Ah, Amelia. Strange to see you down here so soon! Something I can help you with today?"

Croaker...was different. Very unlike the others he worked with, perhaps that was why he'd made it high enough to become Director? She smiled blandly at him. "Sorry to bother you so late Saul. There's a matter we need to discuss. Do you mind if we keep this confidential?"

He nodded easily, fiddling with a couple objects on his desk. "There, privacy screens are up. So what can I help you with?"

"It falls under our previous conversation, I'd appreciate you considering it covered by that oath…" She explained, then continued when he nodded his understanding. "Speaking of, have you had any success in that matter?"

He shook his head tiredly. "No, in the magical world, same as the muggle, mind to mind communication is generally considered a myth, as yet I haven't found anything particularly solid to follow up on. I'll keep looking though, just as I promised."

Amelia nodded soberly, "Alright, then that brings me to the current matter I suppose. I was recently reflecting on the battle at my residence against You-Know-Who and the Death Eaters. And I remembered something which I had forgotten in the mess that kicked up."

He leaned forward in interest so she explained. "While attempting to draw You-Voldemort's attention away from me Harry said some things which seemed to singularly irritate the bastard. Now normally I wouldn't bother you with something as inconsequential as combat banter, but Harry mentioned something intriguing when he was goading him."

"He mentioned that Voldemort shouldn't have entrusted his 'memory container' or some such to Lucius Malfoy, and that he, Harry that is, had destroyed it. That it had told him things. When he mentioned this it temporarily diverted Voldemort's attention, causing him to lash out in an attempt to kill Mr Potter." She noted with interest the way Saul seemed to pale somewhat. "I take it from your expression you have some idea what he was talking about?"

Croaker hesitated, his eyes darting sideways uneasily. "I'm not sure, it does however remind me of a particularly dark and foul piece of magic I have heard of in the past…." he hedged uncomfortably.

"Is this something that _he_ would likely take interest in?" She asked, her tone clearly conveying whom it was she was inquiring about.

"I'm-I am reluctant to say. There are some magics it is better left forgotten. We have a policy of not discussing this particular branch of magic with anyone…" He admitted.

Amelia gave him a pointed look. "Saul, if it is relevant to our efforts against Voldemort...I think I need to know."

He sighed, rubbing at the bridge of his nose. "Yes I suppose you do at that. What you described bears a strong resemblance to what is colloquially known as "The Darkest Magic" Now, I admit I am uncertain as to whether or not this is hyperbole or not. It is however undisputable that it is particularly foul and repugnant. Even the most depraved individuals seldom descend so low as to attempt it."

"Speak plainly Saul." his counterpart directed tiredly.

He nodded. "I apologize, tell me Amelia, your family has it's share of dark arts practitioners in its past, but have you ever heard of a Horcrux?"

She shook her head, and he nodded seriously. "Yes, I suppose you wouldn't have. Your family's skeletons tended more towards the literal kind if I recall correctly. Which while similar in some facets Necromancy is a very distinct branch of magic from that of Soul magic."

She blinked in surprise. "Soul magic? You mean such as a phylactery?" She asked. Soul magic she knew was a very esoteric field of study with, it was said, a very limited amount of practical use. Phylacteries were the only semi-well known product of this art as far as she knew.

He hummed noncommittally. "Mmm-yes and no. A phylactery as you know is a sample of magically imbued blood, bone and muscle tissue kept in a specialized device or container. It essentially contains a small sample of the sum total of a person's physical essence. Blood, muscle, bone " He reiterated, then shrugged. "and a bit of their aura in the magic within them, in other words, body and soul. If used in the correct rituals or enchantments a phylactery can be used to track a specific person's whereabout over great distances, or make them subject to magics cast whilst they are absent. The most clever example I've seen of a Phylactery is that clock Arthur Weasley is so proud of. It tracks and states the status of each member of the family at any given time." He explained patiently.

He paused and leant back in his chair. "No, a Horcux is something a little different from that. Though it's more a difference of degree, as opposed to anything else. Where a Phylactery takes a sample of body and soul byproducts. A Horcrux takes a literal shattered fragment of the person's soul and mind. Another one of Herpo the Foul's thrice cursed discoveries, though we believe the 'art' did not actually originate with him."

"So, the object Harry destroyed…" Amelia asked her sense of unease deepening.

"Was a literal fragment of the Dark Lord's soul fused into an object." He took in her worried and disgusted expression and nodded sagely. "Now, if that were the sum total of it, that would be monstrous enough. The acts necessary to shatter one's soul so that a piece can be broken off and stored are heinous in the extreme. But it is much worse than that Amelia, if _he_ has done this thing. If he's created Horcruxes...then our task has just become a whole lot harder."

She eyed him warily. "Why, what does a Horcrux do precisely, I'm getting the impression it may have something to do with why he didn't die that night all those years ago?"

He sighed, appearing to age before her eyes. "It grants immortality Amelia, while the Dark Lord possesses and safeguards active fragments of his soul he cannot be truly destroyed."

* * *

The atmosphere of the current meeting of the Order of the Phoenix was much less exuberant than it usually had been in the past. This could be because the Order had all but been gutted in recent weeks.

First had of course been the death of Sirius Black, something which truly had dealt a body blow to most of the Order, and not just because he'd played host to their little get togethers.

Then had come Emmaline Vance's hospitalization, which she had only recently been released from, and was not yet up to attending these meetings regularly. Rounding out with the way the Auror members had been so expertly excised by the actions of Amelia Bones.

All in all the Order could be said to be in a sad state. It's remaining members being, three school teachers, one of which was a Death Eater, led by an aging headmaster, a somewhat divided family of red-heads, one depressed werewolf, a thief, two somewhat batty old codgers, and a grumpy paranoid old coot who had been showing less and less of late. Apparently preferring to execute his own operations against the Death Eaters in secrecy.

All in all it left Dumbledore a little melancholy. This was not the Order of old that was for certain. Gone were the ranks of faithful and competent followers who would have followed him into hell itself. Most of the former members of that organization dead, or now thoroughly disillusioned by it all.

Then again, half of the dour atmosphere currently pervading the Weasley kitchen could likely be attributed to the presence of Severus Snape. A man who basically embodied the term dour in every way.

Snape was at this very moment delivering yet another report. "The Dark Lord continues to plan an operation, though as yet he has not seen fit to read me in on affairs. As likely as it is that he doesn't trust me entirely, it is more likely still that this is in actuality a case of compartmentalization. None in his army can betray what they do not know. I will still however endeavour to find out more before it is too late to act." He assured them. His dry tone and disinterested personna leaving none, save Dumbledore, with any real confidence. Snape paused considering then seemed to give a small internal sigh of resignation. "There is one further matter I have to report, though the Dark Lord has largely abandoned his search for Potter, he has put out word to all foreign contacts to be on the lookout for him. He is not convinced that the boy would leave these shores but felt it best to cover all possibilities as best he could."

Dumbledore snorted internally at that. Let Tom chase wild Snorkacks in the bushes. The idea was utterly absurd that Harry would venture abroad. The boy had no experience with lands other than England. He'd been very pleased to learn of the Dursley's aversion to foreigners. And there were no loose ends to draw him abroad he was sure, he'd seen to that himself.

That entirely left aside the fact that the boy's destiny lay here on these shores. Fate would not allow him to so easily escape, Albus assured himself. Still, as he took in the already depressed attitude of the Order, Dumbledore could not help but feel the need to bolster them somewhat so they could set themselves to their tasks with purpose.

He pushed to his feet. "Yes, thank you Severus as ever for your contributions. They shall not be forgotten." Dumbledore agreed piously. "I just want to take this time to reassure the members here that all is not lost. We are doing everything in our power to find Harry and return him home…I am confident that Harry will soon be back with us." This didn't seem to meet with much beside vague skepticism from everyone save Molly Weasley who brightened considerably and resumed knitting humming happily to herself.

"Which brings me to our last order of business today. As our numbers are somewhat depleted by circumstance I would like to officially open the Order of the Phoenix to a recruitment drive. I would like each of you to think hard in the coming days on those who might be swayed to our cause and to tell me so that I might approach them. Times have been hard, I assure you this has not gone unnoticed, but the Order's future is as bright as ever, do not despair!"

* * *

Narcissa Malfoy, could not remember the last time she'd felt so nervous simply approaching a house.

Oh, she'd been plenty nervous returning home after Lucius' trial to report how it had gone against them. To say the Dark Lord had not been pleased they been unable to sway matters in their favour was a monumental understatement which left Narcissa shivering in remembrance.

Ironically, that state of affairs was no one's fault but Lucius himself. He, like so many other Pure Blood lords, refused to trust their wives with full access to the family funds and accounts.

There were a number of reasons for this, some practical, most selfish. Lucius desired to keep as much funding as possible available for their...guest as possible. As that was the only thing keeping them truly useful to the monster. However he also didn't trust her, for reasons of inbred and learned distrust of the female gender, to not run off with everything in the vaults first chance she got. It may also have had to do with the fact that had Narcissa been able to view account balances he suspected she'd have murdered him in his sleep for spending so much money on mistresses and prostitutes.

Which really only served to deepen the irony, as despite his attempts at subterfuge

Narcissa was unfortunately aware of her husband's less than loyal tendencies. Had she been raised to be anything other than a dutiful Pure Blood mother and wife, she might have left him a long time ago.

Regardless, the fact remained that despite everything she now found herself in the unenviable position of being the most nervous she could ever recall being. Which was saying something.

It was not that the house she now approached was particularly foreboding. In fact it was actually fairly plain, especially when measured by her rather high and opulent standards of living.

It was simple, small and white. A single level home of muggle construction, situated in the heart of a small neighbourhood on the outer edge of the London urban sprawl.

She'd never had occasion to visit this house before. Which was when one reflected

upon it a fairly sad commentary on just how badly her relationship with her remaining sane sibling had deteriorated.

So there she stood, wringing her hands nervously as she stood on the front step outside her sister's home. She'd felt the wards react rather strongly to her presence and for half a second had expected to find herself hurled across the street. Instead feeling the slight sting of the wards testing caress before they allowed her passage. She couldn't help but wonder just what have happened had she approached with hostile intent. Nothing good, she was certain. Say what you would about Andromeda Tonks, she was still one of the black sisters when one came down to it.

Narcissa shook off those thoughts, she was dawdling she knew, procrastinating, putting off what was bound to be an unpleasant conversation. She steeled herself then uncoupled her hands to raise one and knock at the door.

Despite the sharp staccato she rapped on the doorway the house remained studiously silent. And after a minute she peered around confirming that lights were indeed on within the house.

Perhaps...the door lacked a knocker, however it did possess a small, strange glowing button beside the door, imbedded in the frame. She pressed it hesitantly and gave a small start when there was a short ringing chime which sounded clearly through the door.

She was at least comforted that this seemed to have produced results as she soon

heard muffled footsteps through the wood of the door. She braced herself as she noticed the small pinprick of light from the door's tiny aperture wink out.

She sighed when the sound of muffled cursing and thumping came from the far side of the door. It was odd, a both fond and bitter memory, that allowed her to imagine quite clearly and accurately what was going on on the far side of the door. Andromeda had just experienced one of her silent temper tantrums. An affair which involved a lot of hopping about and foot stamping, generally accompanied by half uttered curses and growls while she attempted quite industriously to strangle the life out of the air in front of her with her bare hands.

Merlin knew she and Bellatrix had both elicited such a reaction on more than one occasion from their usually reserved sister.

Finally that came to an end and there was a less muffled, and clearly heartfelt curse from beyond the door before the locks began to click and grind, and the door pulled open with a snap.

Narcissa couldn't help it, she took a hurried step back at the thunderous expression playing across her sister's features. Andromeda however took no action to move towards her fleeing sibling, instead opting to observe her coldly while she leaned against the frame tapping her wand against her leg, eyes narrowed.

The silence stretched a few moments before she spoke to her well and truly spooked younger sister. "Well then….I admit I certainly didn't expect to see you darkening my doorstep anytime soon." She sucked her teeth a moment before jerking her head slightly indicating the area behind her. "At least not without a few of your buddies along to help you burn the place down."

Narcissa winced, had it been Bellatrix approaching this house, that undoubtedly would have been the situation. That Andromeda lumped her younger sister into the same category as Bella...well that was less that reassuring. "I am, uh-I am not here on _his_ business." She admitted, her tone clearly confirming just whom _he_ was.

Andromeda rolled her eyes. "Yes the lack of spell fire, hooded and masked goons and mad cackling made that clear." She sighed tiredly, closing her eyes momentarily before refocusing on the woman across from her. "What do you want Narcissa?"

That Andy hadn't referred to her as Cissa also served to underscore how badly things had gone between them all those years ago. Still, she had to try, "I um-May I come in please?"

This was met with a scornful sound from her sister. "May I see your forearm _sister_?"

In other times, in other places Narcissa would have been insulted both at the assertion and the bluntness of the demand. Normally she didn't kowtow to others in such a fashion, but desperate times had dulled her pride and she was promptly pulling up her sleeves wincing slightly when one of the buttons there tore loose and pinged away across the porch.

There shining slightly in the pale moonlight were her forearms, clean and bare. She couldn't help but be a little hurt at the look of surprise which crossed her sister's features. Though she knew she really had no right to be.

It was perhaps her hurt which made her offer the next thing, her tone a touch more sure and brisk than before. "I don't have my wand with me either. Feel free to check."

Andromeda considered the woman across from her a moment before nodding, first flicking her wand at the woman's still outstretched forearms, causing a wave of horripilation to skitter across her flesh as the sensory spells searched for glamours finding none. Then Andromeda directed her wand elsewhere, first at her clearly searching for a wand or weapon to summon from her person, however she could tell that it surprised her sister somewhat when it met no resistance, nor did it produce any results. Finally Andromeda flicked her wand to the side and the button which she had lost a minute before flew into her hand.

Andromeda considered the small bauble dispassionately before holding it out to her to take. "Fine, come in side. We leave shoes at the door."

She waited just long enough for Narcissa to grab the proffered button before turning to allow her through the door.

Narcissa stepped inside and waited for her sister to secure the door again before pulling off her shoes as instructed, placing them on a mat clearly provided for the purpose. Her sister then silently led her deeper within the small, tastefully decorated home. "You are lucky, Ted is out on business right now. Won't be home for a few hours yet." Andromeda explained.

Narcissa didn't see it but her sister frowned slightly when she refrained from commenting on her husband one way or the other. It was unlike her relative not to offer an acerbic barb about her choice of spouse.

Which was why she ended up surprised when Andromeda stopped in the middle of the

middle of the hallway and turned to eye her speculatively. "Before we go any further, what was the last thing you said to me when I left home?"

Narcissa was confused, why bring that up now? Andromeda sighed before explaining.

"It's a security question, to ensure it's you. Should have done it at the door…"

The younger sister winced, thinking back to that day. "I-er, I told you that I had only

one sister and that you were not her." She admitted bleakly.

Andromeda nodded stiffly, before loosening up again and turning without a further word to lead her into the sitting room down the hall. She paused only to proffer a chair to her guest before beginning a slow pace across the room. Narcissa tried not to be intimidated as she sat in the chair smoothing the skirt of her dress. She knew more than her fair share of spell and magic in general. And being a Black, much of that was dark in nature. But that advantage availed her little here. Andromeda always had been a better student than she, and had been a mean fighter in any of the practice duels they'd fought in the day. She was, despite being disowned a Black sister by birth too, and knew just as much in the way of horrifyingly painful magic as she did, if not more.

Narcissa recalled an incident from near the end of the last war. Andromeda had been present in diagon alley with her husband and young daughter when Bellatrix had led a raid there. That was the only time she could remember Bella returning from a fight with wounds not inflicted by her master. Apparently the two siblings had duelled when Bellatrix, predictably, had lashed out at her former sister.

She'd never heard just how Andromeda had fared compared to Bellatrix, but she had survived where so many others had not, and had managed to hurt a woman few trained aurors dared to stand against.

"Now, what is it that you want Narcissa?" Andromeda asked brusquely.

Though she had anticipated this meeting more than her sister had, she still needed a moment to consider how to proceed. Eventually settling on the blunt truth. "Things have gone badly...particularly since the battle at the Ministry." She admitted. "The Dark Lord blames Lucius for the failure there, and with the latest Carrow fiasco….he decided his use for Draco and myself had ended. He chose instead to use us as a method to send a message to Lucius. When he abandoned our residence, which he had been using as a base prior to that, he left me and my son bound and gagged in our home. He left us to die. The elves being forbidden from aiding us."

Andromeda paused, a brief glimmer of surprise in her eyes before she quashed it. "Are you truly surprised that the bastard turned on you Narcissa, I'd thought you more astute than that."

Normally she would have bristled at the implied insult, however current events had her pausing and considering that question seriously. "In retrospect, no we indeed should have expected that he would not keep to his bargain. We had hoped he would hold with the traditions and protocols he professed to champion. Obviously, as I am here, he did not."

She grimaced and then shrugged. "It is only because one of our elves was brave enough to defy him that we escaped at all."

Her sister nodded, before resuming her slow pace back and forth. "And why come to

me?"

Narcissa sighed, there was nothing for it but to be honest. She had nothing to gain by

lying, and her sister was just as well trained as her, she'd undoubtedly see through any falsehood she spun. "Frankly? It is because I have no other choice." She saw the mild surprise in her sister again before forging onward. "Most others I could have even contemplated approaching prior to this would either be unwilling or unable to cross the Dark Lord in such a manner. That's assuming they were not directly in league with him to begin with."

She shrugged and continued. "My only other options of note besides contacting you, would be to approach Potter, who is unlikely to look favourably on such a thing, or to go on the run. Something we both know would be of little use should he decide to hunt us."

Andromeda had ceased pacing and considered her seriously from behind grey eyes. "Well, at least you're honest," She allowed with a snort of dark amusement. "So, you want me to help you out is that correct, to shelter you?"

Narcissa nodded. "Our own home is no longer secure, and we have next to no funds

we can access with Lucius in Azkaban. Not that he would dare to cross the Dark Lord were he free regardless."

Her sister nodded, mulling that over, before hesitating. "My-home, is not so safe right now that you could shelter here long term." She put up a hand to stall any objections. "However, that could be remedied, though it will likely come at some cost to yourself…."

Narcissa sighed, "As I said I do not have access to-"

Andromeda cut across her irritably. "Not what I meant Cissa." Her stoney facade suffering somewhat in her impatience. "The only people I could reasonably see us approaching right now in order to make this place safe enough for you are Nymphadora's superiors at the DMLE."

Her younger sibling scowled at that. "I am not eager to throw myself at the Ministry's feet-"

Another impatient sound cut her off. "You likely don't have a choice little _sister_." Andy noted acerbically. "Though I will ask Dora to ensure it reaches as few ears as possible, for security's sake if nothing else….assuming we go forward with this at all."

"There is one other matter however." She said calmly, and noted the worried look in Narcissa's eyes. "I _will not_ harbour an enemy in my own home Cissa. If you and Draco shelter here. _You will_ abide by my rules, and the first time I hear you or your boy slander my husband because of his blood so help me-"

Narcissa was already nodding hurriedly pleased her sister seemed to be considering it. "Of course, I will be certain to impress upon Draco the need for etiquette and tact. I will mind my own manners as well-"

Andromeda shook her head, sighing wearily. "That may not be enough Cissa. How am I supposed to trust you with my family's safety if I know you are merely being polite whilst still harbouring biases against us?" She asked, " _IF_ I do this, and I'm not saying saying I will. I will need to _know_ you are willing to change."

Her sister sagged in the face of such a requirement. "It is not so simple as that Andy-I've lived my whole life this way, as has Draco. Such things do not simply go away…"

She was then surprised to see her sister's face soften slightly. "I do not expect miracles overnight Cissa. But I do expect you to try and make a real effort."

The younger sister nodded cautiously, that at least was something she could do. "I-Very well, I will try, if it means me and my son will be safe."

Andromeda nodded, accepting that, before pausing to consider again. "Alright, tentatively yes, I will shelter you. But I will need to talk with Ted first. I will not do this without his permission, this is as much his home as mine." She hedged. "There is one other thing I wonder about however, and want to know if you have considered it. What do you plan to do for Draco in terms of schooling? In the current climate Hogwarts is likely unsafe for him."

Narcissa nodded soberly in agreement, the thought had occurred to her. Draco had, up until now, very nearly ruled Slytherin house, though if she were honest with herself that was more due to his father's efforts than his own. However with his father imprisoned and subject of the Dark Lord's displeasure, and he himself persona non grata with the Death Eaters, this situation would be reversed. With most of his fellow housemates looking to kill him in hopes of earning the Dark Lord's favour.

"I may need to see about homeschooling him. If situations eventuate that he must attend that school...I will need to see what might be done to protect him from the worst of the backlash." She admitted.

Andromeda nodded slow agreement. "Very well, I'll speak with Ted tonight, if he says yes, I'll owl you tomorrow. Remember what I said though."

As Narcissa was led once again from the house she couldn't help but reflect on the irony of her situation, that now it was she who was the outcast, seeking her sister's favour. And that it was her own beliefs which were unwelcome, as opposed to the other way around. She was willing to do anything however if it meant she and her son would be safe. If she needed to change to ensure that, then so be it.

* * *

GMT 9:00 A.M-10:30 A.M

Air travel was equal parts wonderful and awful at the same time Harry decided. The obvious downsides being cramped in a relatively small metal tube rocketing across the sky at unholy velocities, for hours on end. The positive side being that you actually got to see something of the world while travelling this way, unlike if they had travelled by portkey or apparition.

Most didn't realize it, especially if they spent their whole lives in the UK, but Portkeys, apparition, floo? They all had a sort of maximum effective range. Now when you dwelled in an area as relatively compact as the British Isles it wasn't that big a consideration, the entire lot of them falling well within the range of any of those methods.

International portkey, being the magical option with the longest range would require a hop from England to Labrador in order to then hop the rest of the way across the atlantic to North America. Add to that the fact that all international portkey usage was carefully monitored by the ICW and their little band was obviously not about to travel using such a method.

The alternative of course, which could be used to circumvent this oversight was to

portkey within range of the nation's border and then cross it normally before once again taking portkeys to reach their destination. The problem with that method in this case was thus. The Magical Congress of the United States of America guarded it's domain just as carefully if not more so than it's non-magical counterpart. And kept close watch over magical transit signatures near it's borders. Often investigating and duly reporting magic users travelling the muggle way to the ICW who they were on better terms with compared to their northern neighbour.

So, they were stuck with air travel as their transportation of choice if they wished to

move undetected by interested parties to their destination. Still, it wasn't all bad. Their party had gotten the chance to discuss life in general with each other and better acquaint themselves with their new travel companions. Also, arrival at their destination alone, made up for much of their discomfort all by itself.

Even from the air one could easily tell Hawaii was beautiful. Lush green set against the

startling blue of the ocean framed by shining white sand beaches.

Landing had been somewhat bumpier than that they'd endured in Churchill. Though

Hermione explained this was likely due to the warm updrafts coming off the sun heated ground and water. Immediately on opening the plane doors, Harry could tell just how different this place was going to be. A flowery scent he couldn't quite place permeated the plane as the stale cabin air was replaced with fresh air from outside.

Once again they made it through the airport with relative ease, a squib agent helping to process them, and the enchantments on their familiars dispelling any undue interest from those around them. Soon enough they were piling into a cab and headed out.

Honolulu...was a big city, even the Hawaiian overtones couldn't truly dispel that notion. Though it and their journey was lent a bit more interest by the way Hermione and the cab driver kept a running dialogue going pointing out things of interest. Soon enough they passed through a tunnel leading to the island's north shore, and the driver was careful to put names to the various locations they passed. Such as a small island off the coast aptly named Chinaman's hat, a squat conical prominence just off the coast as the worked their way westward.

They arrived at their destination soon enough, though the Driver found himself somewhat confused as to why his passengers desired to be dropped off on a back road at the foot of a well forested foothill. This could largely be attributed to the enchantments they already suspected would be in place over this property. Those in their party with magical blood could see the small path leading up into the trees and the rooftops further inland poking up out of the thick foliage.

It didn't look like much from here, but then again, they couldn't see much anyways. They soon had their belongings unpacked and were making their way towards the entrance to the property.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** As ever thanks to my super-beta/pseudo-coauthor Temporal Knight! He's been awesome!

 **Recommendation(s) of the week:** Uhm….So I don't know how good it'll end up being but Robst, has started putting out another story "Who Would Fill the Coward's Grave"! So that should be fun! And...in the star wars universe we've got "The Dangers of Foresight" by Anne Camp AKA Obi-Quiet.


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's Note:** FINALLY! Finally this chapter agreed to be written. It fought me forever until finally it just clicked. So here it is! Whoooo. That's a relief. Hopefully the next chapter will work smoothly and there won't be a delay like that again for a while. Anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

 **Chapter 15:** Exercises in Trust

GMT 9:30 pm

Amelia's finger rolled a staccato like beat over and over on the dark surface of her desk as she pondered the problem which lay before her, her eyes staring blankly at the reports before her.

Horcruxes, if she didn't know what they were the name for the abominations would seem almost…benign. She knew better now though thanks to what Croaker had told her, and what notes he'd been able to forward to her for review.

Abominations, that was indeed what Horcruxes were. There was no other word which sufficiently conveyed the malign nature of those devices: the shattered fragments of a madman's soul created through the most vile atrocities known to man and then fused with an object for safe keeping.

According to the notes, the exact origin of the name was unclear, possibly being a bastardization of English or French. Not that the name's origin really mattered in the long run so far as she were concerned. Not the least because the meaning seemed to be similar enough in either language anyway.

When it came down to it, these devices meant that Voldemort could not be killed, at least not so long as they continued to anchor him to this realm. A troubling notion, to put it mildly. He obviously had more than one too if he was still around causing chaos after Harry had seen to destroying one.

The question for her, in her position as head of the DMLE, was how to go about finding and destroying the things. Especially without tipping off Voldemort to what they were doing.

It suddenly made a great deal more sense to her now, just why Voldemort's followers had remained so loyal, even after his apparent fall at the end of the last war. And why so many of them had proclaimed the belief that he would return.

An army based on such beliefs would naturally be much harder to fracture and defeat. Such forces would believe themselves near invincible even in the face of losses. More would always come to swell their numbers, a situation that would be made even worse after each successive time the Dark Lord returned to life.

This war, the one which was slowly but surely grinding into motion around them had the potential to be even worse than the last one. The last war had pitted Voldemort, a small elite cadre of fanatics and a small army of the disenfranchised youths among the purebloods against the whole of wizarding society. It had been horrific true. But this time would be worse if they didn't do all they could to stop it early.

This time those disenfranchised youths held positions of power and had great wealth at their fingertips. This time, his armies ranks would be swollen with those who wished to serve someone who had defied death itself. And this time the Ministry was utterly unprepared for hostilities to erupt. Due in no small part to corruption his followers had themselves seeded and encouraged to grow.

Amelia was afraid, she was not ashamed to admit it. Not for herself, but for Susan, she did not know how she could keep the girl safe in the face of what was to come. Normally, she would at least be able to send her to Hogwarts where she'd be relatively safe. Now however, in the face of recent revelations…she was not certain even there was secure anymore.

The only lead she had to pursue towards victory, towards ending this war early, was to hunt down these Horcruxes and eliminate them before Voldemort realized what she was doing. The problem was she had no earthly clue where to even begin with that task.

She needed to consult again with Croaker, but more than that she realized, her hand stilling on the desktop. She needed to talk to Harry, if he was somehow wrapped up in this, as she now believed he was, she suspected she would need his help if they were to win.

If that were even possible now…The will reading. She would speak to him then if the opportunity presented itself. That would give her time to gather what information she could and consult with Croaker on the matter. She hoped things held together that long.

* * *

Luna watched from the sill of her bedroom window as the slightly slouched figure of Albus Dumbledore paced away from the house towards the property line in the fading evening light. She found it hard to stifle the small feeling of elation and uncharitable satisfaction she felt seeing the old man so defeated.

Her father had never bought into the legend of Albus Dumbledore to the degree others had. Not the least which because he tended to distrust anyone who accumulated so much political power unto themselves.

And that was _before_ Luna's mother had died and Xeno himself had retreated into his world of conspiracies and intrigue. Nowadays he had at least a dozen plots mapped out in his study which were all centred around Dumbledore.

Most were nonsense even by her reckoning, but some…? Regardless, her father had sent the old wizard away without allowing him to bother his daughter, something she was grateful for.

She had her own reasons for distrusting Dumbledore. The way he'd treated Harry was - as far as she was concerned - unconscionable, and the way he allowed bullying to grow rampant in the school he professed to rule had not helped any. She had a more personal reason for her distaste however.

Luna had no proof, but Dumbledore had definitely been in contact with her mother extensively in the days before her death. Oh, she doubted the man had in anyway harmed or arranged for the death of her mother himself, but she would not have bet against whatever it was he'd had her mother working on, being the thing which had killed her.

She still remembered, finding her mother after the explosion which had damaged their home. Lying alone, seemingly unharmed in the middle of her shattered workroom, but dead, as though struck by the killing curse.

Luna sighed, turning away from the window. She _tried_ not to dwell overmuch on her mother's death of course. It was hard though, she missed her a great deal. All she had left of the woman was her wand and a handful of cherished memories. A singing voice, the memory of a gentle hand running through her hair…

Luna cast about for something, anything less painful than those memories to focus on and turned her attention to the conundrum of finding Harry and Hermione.

There were several people she suspected either knew where they were or at least remained in contact with them. The trouble however lay with convincing them to help her.

She'd pondered the question long and hard, and but come to no easy solution, it seemed, ultimately that when it came down to it she would need to do it the old fashioned way. She just hoped they would listen.

* * *

H-AT 10:30 am

Harry watched until the tail lights of the cab they'd taken from the airport disappeared around the bend back down the road before turning around to regard his fellow travellers. It really was just a precaution on his part, but they couldn't really afford for a muggle to see something out of the ordinary when they approached property, even concealed as it was by the forest.

The others used the time to get themselves, their luggage and the familiars sorted, straightening out their clothes, shouldering packs and picking up their bags.

The gatehouse to the property was concealed by magic just off the side of the road, a small simply laid out building supporting a wooden gate and stone walls which disappeared off into the trees.

Its most notable feature really was the large metal sigil which dominated the centre of the dark wood of the gate itself. It depicted a helmet above a broad kite shield which had a gryphon emblazoned upon it. A phrase etched in latin on the sigil's lower edge. _Amor Enim, Et Honora._

In English? For Love and Honour. Easy enough to figure out for anyone with a bit of latin in their education.

Apparently he'd spent a little too long staring at the gate because his mother noticed where his eyes had wandered, and spoke up from where she was securing a sleeping bag to a suitcase. "It's the family motto. It meant that the Potters always defended their family and upheld themselves to a strict code of honour."

He nodded ruefully, "I didn't know that."

She grimaced a bit, no doubt reflecting on just how little he knew of his own family, thanks to a certain aged busybody. "I'll tell you anything you want to know Harry, all you have to do is ask okay?"

The offer and the knowledge that the information he'd so long desired about his family was finally available to him made him feel a bit…odd, "Thanks."

His mother smiled somewhat sadly at him before turning her attention to his sister while Hermione wandered over to stand beside him. "You okay?" She asked gently, no doubt having spotted his uncertainty following his mother's offer.

"Yeah sorry, it's just…I guess I'm not used to the feeling of having family I suppose, having a home?" He explained in a low voice.

She hugged him briefly, before pulling back, simply leaving a hand on his shoulder. "I'm happy for you Harry."

That earned a grateful smile from him, "Thanks…I couldn't have found her without you though…"

His friend snorted in amusement before nudging his shoulder with her own as they made their way over to the gate trailing after his mother and sister who had begun to make their way over as well.

Once they had all gathered about it his mum looked about cautiously before drawing her wand, just in case anyone else had wandered into the area. Seeing no one in sight however she quickly cast a series of spells and proceeded to observe the results. The only notable reaction from the defences was a brief warning flash from the sigil before it dimmed back to a normal appearance.

"Hm, keyed to blood then. Not surprised really, seems to be Goblin make with some family wards thrown in for good measure." Lily muttered absently. "Easy enough to get access though in our case."

She shifted her wand in her hand before making a small incision with it in her other palm, which she then pressed against the sigil. Once certain she had gotten enough blood on the metal she stood back and healed the wound before speaking. "I Lily, wife of House Potter, request entrance to these lands for myself and those with me…" She intoned in a clear formal tone.

There was a pause before the blood seemed to be absorbed into the metal causing it to glow white for a moment before a bluish cascade of magic rippled over the gate. Then there was a dull clunk from within it and the door swung silently inwards, allowing them passage.

They filed through quickly onto a neatly kept road which wound it's way up through the jungle brush and up out of sight. The door swung shut behind them without further fanfare. However the locks were much more impressive to observe from this side. Six large metal bars rising up out of the ground to hold the gate shut before locks within the gate sealed it in place.

It seemed his father had put more into defending this place than was strictly speaking obvious, especially to an outside observer. He noted that Kate seemed as impressed as he was.

As they got moving again Harry noticed there was an odd…atmosphere to the place. He could not really pin down why, as all they had encountered thus far was forest, but this place felt welcoming. Perhaps family magics recognizing that he belonged there?

It took a few minutes for them to wind their way further up the path, even losing sight of the gate in the process before they finally saw the houses. That there were more than one surprised Harry, he had not expected there to be five medium sized abodes set about on a plateaued hilltop based on the limited description he'd retrieved from Gringotts about the place.

Had he been a student of architecture he might have noted the way the traditional Hawaiian colonial houses had been enhanced with Japanese design work, as it was he noted the somewhat exotic appearance of the place and found himself instantly liking it.

He was about to comment on that when something which had been niggling at his perception finally made itself known. There was, around the area they stood within, a sort of strange hush.

Earlier, as they'd made their way up the path there had been birds in the trees…but now? He furrowed his brow unconsciously as he turned, before stilling as something moved out the corner of his eye.

The next moment, before he could even open his mouth to speak, there was a blur followed by a chittering cry as something struck him about the waist and he was bowled over.

He would have no doubt been alarmed by the other cries which joined it as well as the sounds of shock and surprise from the others had he not found himself suddenly very preoccupied trying to wrestle off whatever it was that had latched onto his head.

He tried to pry it off but got a rap on his knuckles for his trouble, he was about to try rolling to use the pavement to perhaps encourage the thing to get off him when a single word split the air. "Stop!"

His mother's voice, rang through the clearing and everything immediately obeyed, even him! The thing of his head stopped tugging at his hair and the chittering cries stilled. However, unlike whatever it was that was accosting him, Harry's pause was only temporary, using the opportunity to pull the no longer struggling thing off his head which then itself wrestled free and dropped to the ground to stare at him.

Short, somewhere between knee and waist height, in a grass skirt, Hawaiian shirt and tiki mask which went down to it's knees. It also had a rather intimidating looking saw toothed club in one hand.

He stared at it, and it stared back at him, until Harry finally glanced sideways to see his mum, the only one still standing while Hermione and Kate also staggered to their feet. Whatever these things were his mother was staring at them in what he would almost describe as disbelief.

Glancing back at the figure in front of him he found it was no longer looking at him but at his mother as well. There was a long pause and then a low, breathy sound he couldn't quite describe, as a hand came up pushing back the mask. "Mi—mistress Lily? Is that yous?"

A house elf. It was a _house elf_ , in a hula skirt, an obnoxiously coloured shirt with a wooden club and a mask!

"Tinker?" His mother asked skeptically, looking shocked.

Apparently this was the turning point for the little elf as she, definitely a she considering how much she resembled Winky, dropped her club and threw herself bodily to latch onto his mother's leg and sob. "Mistress Lily has arrived!" She wailed loudly.

Soon enough his mother had another two elves latched onto her other legs, wailing loudly. "Tinker is so sorry Mis—Lily! We didn't means to attack you and your friends!" Tinker sobbed, "It's—it's just…it's been so long! Wees not being expecting you!"

His mother barked a surprised laugh, "I can see that Tinker," There was a palpable silence which followed that before his mother eventually ventured to speak again. "Uhm, Tinker? What's with the outfit?"

Harry shook his head in amusement as his mother questioned and comforted the elves shifting to stand beside Hermione. "You know…Even with attacking me, they're still nicer than Kreacher." He grumbled good naturedly and Hermione chuckled in rueful agreement.

"Come on you lot, Tinker and the others want to show us the house." Lily called over the din of elven voices. "Yes Tinker, I know Harry _did_ get big!"

* * *

To say the last week had been hectic for the Grangers would an understatement. Which was why Dan and Emma were happy to just enjoy a quiet evening at home alone, and why they were somewhat perturbed to hear an obnoxious tapping at the window.

Dan didn't recognize the owl at the window, which wasn't terribly surprising, aside from Harry's owl Hedwig, Hermione had only ever received letters via school barn owls or that excitable little ball of feathers Pigwidgeon. This owl was different, not the least of which because it had crossed eyes.

Opening the window he took the offered letter from the concussed looking owl before it took off in a flurry of wings and disappeared from sight.

The envelope was unremarkable, being simple and white, so he disregarded it and opened the letter within. Staring at it silently for over a minute before his wife decided to ask him what it was. He shook out of his thoughts and smiled at her blandly before reading it aloud.

Dear Mr and Mrs Granger.

My name is Luna Lovegood, I have had the privilege of considering your daughter, Hermione Granger

and her constant companion Harry Potter my friends. Therefore I was greatly saddened to hear that they had

disappeared together. Though I certainly understand their reasons for doing so.I will not ask you where they are, instead only asking that should you have the opportunity to contact them, please let them know that I care, and that I miss them greatly.

Sincerely grateful for your time.

-Luna Lovegood

The two adult Grangers shared a silent look for a minute before Dan spoke. "What do you think?" He asked baldly.

"I've heard Hermione speak of Luna," Emma ventured eventually, "Said she was a nice if sometimes odd girl…I see no harm in forwarding the message to them when we get the chance, do you?"

Dan shook his head. "No, though I admit to not knowing just how we'll go about that. Suppose we could try Madam Bones?"

Emma nodded, "We'll likely need to stop by Diagon Alley to rent an owl though…"

Dan sighed at that, it wasn't that he had a problem with Diagon Alley per se, it's just that finding the place without the assistance of his daughter guiding them was always something of an ordeal, still. Getting word passed along to their daughter and her friend would be worth the hassle he supposed.

"Okay, we'll do that first thing tomorrow, try and beat the worst of the rush." He agreed.

And with that, their evening returned to normal, nevertheless it was an important step for one Luna Lovegood.

* * *

Harry's skin was warm under Hermione's fingers as she worked on switching out the poultice once more. The 'burn' from his battle at Madam Bones' house in London had significantly reduced, especially with the help of the potions she'd acquired from Kate and Lily in Churchill.

"Is Master Harry okay?" Tinker asked tentatively from her perch in the bedroom Harry had claimed for the duration of their stay here. Her feet kicking nervously against the side of the dresser she was seated upon.

Hermione nodded absently as she held the bandage in place with one hand. "Yes Tinker, the burn's really gone down now." She assured the little elf. "He'll be right as rain in no time."

Tinker shifted uncomfortably, wringing her hands uncertainly. "Should I inform Mistress Lily of Master Harry's injury?"

"You can if you want to Tinker, but she's already aware of it." Harry said as Hermione secured the wrap holding it all in place.

That seemed to ease the little elf's mind a great deal. "Alright, I'll…I'll tell her just in case, but food should be ready soon. We'll be eating out on the lanai." She informed them before popping out.

Hermione smiled in amusement at the elf's antics, and she was sure the lanai would be a good place to eat, being the patio like arrangement for the house. "They seem happy." She noted, before sighing a touch ruefully. "I suppose your mum is right, the Potters have always treated them well, so they're more than content living like this…"

Harry directed a smile at her as he pulled on a shirt over his head. "There's plenty more elves out there that do need our help Mione, we'll figure out just how to help them together." He assured her and she smiled in thanks. His implicit support for her cause greatly appreciated.

There was a knock at the doorframe and Lily stepped into the room. "Tinker mentioned you were tending his wound, how bad is it now?" She asked, nodding to the small medical kit Hermione was packing away.

"Not too bad, it was only ever the energy wash from the spell…mum, I've had worse." Harry reported, stumbling slightly when it came to referring to her as his mother. Still clearly getting used to being able to.

Lily nodded, "Still likely to scar I assume and it probably hurt, do you need any more potions?" She asked, clearly hoping for a way to help out her son.

Harry just shrugged. "I've already taken some so I'm good, not that it hurts that bad anyways."

Hermione did her best to hide her grimace at that, but ended up responding to his assertion anyway. "That's because your views on pain are skewed Harry; not surprising considering everything you've been through."

Harry just snorted in amusement, "True enough I suppose. Doesn't change the fact it doesn't really bother me." He pointed out, before turning to regard his mother. "Tinker said lunch is going to be ready soon?"

Lily nodded, "Yeah outside, it should be ready any minute now, why don't you two go join Kate out there, I'll be along in a minute. I'll handle the supplies Hermione, thanks for looking out for him."

Hermione smiled at the woman, before bumping Harry with her shoulder. "Anytime Missus Potter."

It was a minute before Harry and her made their way out onto the lanai, and Hermione was amazed at the view which greeted her when they did.

It was…perfect, in a way. The property sat atop a small promontory on the lower slope of the mountains that formed the core of the island of Oahu. The island sloped in a vast green sea away from them to where it finally met the water about a mile away. There, a town or small city sat nestled along the shoreline of an ocean which was the deepest most beautiful ultramarine blue she had ever seen.

The sky above it all, clear except for a few small clouds which gently drifted this way and that across it, driven by the same warm sea breeze which played against her face and rustled her hair. "Wow," was the almost reverent murmur which came from her lips.

"Yeah, no kidding right? That was my reaction too!" Came Kate's voice from further along the lanai, where the slightly younger teen leaned against the railing.

"It's gorgeous here…" Hermione continued nodding her head in acknowledgement.

She stood there for a time just taking in everything before her, her eyes fixing for a time on the town, it was near enough that she could make out individual buildings easily enough and see the small insect like cars drifting along its streets. She even spotted a river or man made stream which descended from a white building down towards the coast, and a park dominated by huge trees…

"What town is that? Just where are we exactly?" She asked, hoping someone knew the answer.

"That Laie," Reported Tinker padding through the door behind her, before dutifully reciting the pronunciation. "Lah-ee-ay, we're on the island's north shore. It's mostly a university and tourist town these days."

That caused Hermione to blink in surprise. "Really, they put a university in a town that size?" She asked incredulously, turning to look at the elf.

Tinker nodded, unoffended, "Laie was partially settled by a church, they built their temple there, you can see it there, that big white building." She said pointing away towards the town. "but they also built the school for their people here, I hear they offer education to many from all across Polynesia now. Especially those who can't afford it normally."

The elf paused. "I've lived here most of my life. I only briefly knew the Potters before…everything went wrong." Tinker noted sadly. "The town's nice though, a fairly quiet place."

Hermione nodded understanding, "Is it always this nice," She asked indicating the weather and scenery around them.

Tinker shrugged. "Not always, but usually. It is rare for the weather to be truly awful here. The worst we generally get is a bit of light rain."

"How do paradises like this still exist?" Kate asked shaking her head.

"You'd think people would flock here," Hermione agreed wholeheartedly.

Tinker grimaced, a strange expression on an elf. "You haven't seen Honolulu properly misses, big city, like any other. Gobbling up the other side of the island." She said sounding disapproving.

"You don't like it?" Hermione asked.

The elf sighed, "It's not so bad I suppose, not so green anymore. I sometimes go there to visit the market."

Hermione thought on the international market place*, where the local magical community hid it's own shopping district. "We have to go to the market next Tuesday."

Tinker bobbed her head, "Yes, Harry told me. You should visit before then though. Enjoy the sights properly, when it's not night time."

It clicked in her head just what the elf meant, "Oh yeah, I guess it would be night here if it's daytime in London."

"2:00 am," Harry noted dryly.

She winced, she didn't enjoy being up that late generally. "Oh joy."

Tinker considered the humans around her, "Go tomorrow," She instructed firmly. "See it in daylight, also stay for the evening festivities!"

"Festivities?" Hermione asked perplexed.

Kate snorted in amusement beside her, "It's the fourth of July tomorrow Hermione, and we're in America now."

Hermione made an oh of understanding, "Ah, Independence Day."

"Yes, and Hawaii has many soldiers compared even to other states miss." Tinker noted looking amused. "Proud people, very fond of fireworks."

Hermione could see how that would be true and pondered everything she'd been told thus far. "Are there any places you like to visit Tinker?" She asked eventually.

Tinker hesitated looking a bit guilty. "Technically Tinker is supposed to tend this house and go the market, nothing more…" She admitted sheepishly. "Tinker sometimes does more though…"

Perhaps sensing the elf's distress, Harry just smiled patting Tinker gently on the shoulder. "It's okay Tinker, we're not too strict."

Hermione was still concerned though, "Harry's father didn't let you wander?"

Tinker shook her head, "Oh no, he did…he just wanted us to be safe here when he and mistress Lily went into hiding."

Hermione could see what had happened there. The instruction had been intended to be short term and precautionary, but had ended up being more when James had died.

There was a weary sigh behind them and they all turned to see Lily standing in the doorway admiring the view. "Again, I am sorry I didn't know about this place earlier Tinker. You should know you and the others are free to go where you please, just try and stay safe okay?"

Tinker looked relieved, "Thank you Mis—Lily,"

"The other two say that food's ready now, why don't you lot help us bring it all on out," Lily suggested. "Maybe after lunch we can try out the water?"

That certainly sounded good to Hermione and she was about to say so when a table popped into existence next to her, causing her to jump. "Mistress Lily forgets that elves can bring out food easy! Mistress Lily needs to be reeducated!" Tinker declared firmly, causing those present to laugh in amusement at her antics.

* * *

This…was definitely _not_ how Draco had imagined his summer going, the boy in question had to admit. Summer for him was a time of luxuriant idleness. Occasionally flying about his family's land on his broom, attending extravagant parties and enjoying fine foods.

It was most certainly not… whatever _this_ was. Being threatened and then tied up to be left for dead by a mad man they had invited into their own home? Being forced to approach estranged relatives on bended knee in hopes of finding safe shelter? Him, lying in an…admittedly comfortable bed in a tiny bedroom in a tiny house which could have easily fit in its entirety within the entrance hall of his family's manor. No, he had to say none of that had been on his summer to do list.

Despite all that, and definitely because of it at the same time, he found himself conflicted. He'd expected he would feel scandalized at being forced to live under such conditions, and to a certain extent he was. On the other hand however he found his indignation soundly subsumed by his simple gratitude for simply being alive.

He might not have even managed that much, being alive that was, if it were not for Tipsy. Oh he was sure he and his mother likely would have survived a while longer before dying of thirst, but they hadn't because they'd been freed…By an elf.

An elf who up to that point they had treated…poorly. Not so poorly as Dobby of course, his mother had encouraged him and his father to be less hard on the elf they got to replace Dobby in an effort to discourage such rebellion in the future. That didn't mean they'd been kind to her either.

And yet, despite that, Tipsy had saved them anyway. Even with being threatened by the Dark Lord himself! Few _wizards_ could scrounge up that sort of gumption on a good day. That an elf had was frankly astonishing...and admittedly a bit humbling.

He was equally surprised that Andromeda had agreed to take them in. He knew the stipulations she had placed on doing so. But he found himself more than happy to fulfill them so long as it meant they were safe, even if it was only for a while.

Draco wasn't blind, he could tell the Tonks family held their…reservations about giving his mother and him shelter. It really didn't surprise him that they did. After all his mother and Andromeda's parting of ways had been less than cordial as he understood it. He himself had been…less than welcoming when he'd first met his cousin.

Tonks, he needed to remember that, she preferred to go by the name Tonks, she'd made that quite clear when she'd stopped by earlier to reinforce the wards. He knew better than to test her patience on that.

And so it was, that as Draco lay in bed staring blankly at the ceiling above him, listening absently to the sounds drifting up to him from the moving picture box downstairs, that it occurred to him that Fate _really_ had a strange sense of humour.

* * *

"You, are being silly, Hermione." Kate sighed in exasperation, leaning tiredly against the dresser in Hermione's room. Tinker, who had perched herself atop that same dresser was nodding vigorously in agreement.

Hermione, made a face as she examined herself in the mirror. "I know, I know, it's just—" She sighed, hanging her head a moment, before waving to her swimsuit clad form. Against her better judgement she had been talked into wearing a bikini, a black one, with a blue beach sarong with white flowers Tinker had provided. The one Kate had elected to wear was red.

It wasn't the bikini so much which was troubling her, as the flesh it exposed for all to see. It wasn't a question of modesty so much as the fact it left the curse scar across her chest clearly visible. Even after months it was still red and angry looking to her eyes.

Kate had thus far refrained from commenting on it, but Hermione still worried. Her own mother's words had been percolating through her head again, something they had done numerous times in the days since they'd had that chat back in their home about Harry.

Simply put she wasn't sure she was ready for someone she admittedly had a crush on to see her in a bikini, scar or no. She hadn't voiced this concern aloud to her companions, but they seemed to have sussed it out all on their own.

"It will be alright, I've not known Harry nearly as long as you have, but I already know that it won't be a problem. Trust him." Kate advised.

Tinker nodded in agreement and Hermione pinked realizing just how transparent she was. She hoped Harry hadn't seen through her so easily. "Easy for you to say…" She grumbled before sighing and nodding acceptance before padding towards the door.

Steeling herself with one last nod to the others she pulled the door open and made her way through the house to the living room.

When she found them Harry and Lily were standing outside on the lanai looking out over the ocean. Harry, who she noted was wearing a white T-shirt and what looked to be a pair of Gryffindor board shorts was the first to note their arrival, turning away from the railing. Only to stop and stare when he saw her. "Oh wow…." He breathed, before collecting himself somewhat. "You, look good Hermione."

Now _that_ , was a good reaction! She thought happily as she felt her face heat. Still, she had to know, had to know that her scar wouldn't bother him before they went any further. If it did she could try on a one piece instead. "Thank you. Uh—the scar, it's not…" She started trailing off when his eyes drifted downward and he winced.

 _Shouldn't have mentioned it_ , she cursed to herself. To her surprise Harry sighed. "I'm so sorry Hermione—" He began before she cut him off.

"It's not your fault!" She rushed to reassure him, she should have guessed he'd feel guilty about that, and should have known seeing her scar would cause this reaction.

Harry shook his head mulishly though, "It is though, you came with me because I needed you. You wouldn't have even been there if not for me."

She waved that aside. "And I shouldn't have gotten overconfident, we've been over this remember?" She stated pointedly.

"Doesn't mean I agree it's not my fault." He argued. "Doesn't mean I don't regret what happened seeing that scar."

She sighed sadly, knowing what the guilt was likely doing to her friend. "I could change into something else…" She started only to be surprised when Harry shook his head strongly in disagreement.

"No, don't." He said firmly. "Really, don't, you look…wonderful. Don't let this keep you from wearing something nice."

She smiled shyly at him, it seemed Kate and Tinker had been correct. She'd been afraid, but she should have trusted Harry to be himself.

Kate apparently decided this was a good time to change directions, "Is it a hard walk to the beach?"

It was Lily who responded, shaking her head. "Tinker says it's not. The slope is pretty gradual and the weather's nice too, so if you lot are up for walking?"

Harry shrugged, replying first. "I'm up for it, but I wasn't aware there was an alternative."

"Tinker and I could apparate us us down there under an elf concealment spell." Lily suggested.

Hermione shook her head in time with Harry, "I think a walk would be nice, we could enjoy the view more that way." Hermione offered, getting agreement from everyone else a moment later.

As Lily and Kate made for the front door, Harry made a point to stop her with a gentle hand on her arm. "Hermione…" He started uncertainly before plowing onward. "In case you were wondering? I meant it, you look…wonderful, truly."

That earned another smile from her, perhaps it really was alright.

* * *

"It really does feel like a different world here doesn't it?" Hermione mused quietly to Harry as they made their way down the road towards the coast.

Harry nodded agreement considering the world around him, the sun seemed warmer here, the forests seemed…greener, somehow. The ocean definitely seemed a different clearer blue. But more than that, he decided, it was the peace.

It was a strange feeling, to be somewhere he knew was truly safe. No one knew he was here except those he knew he could trust implicitly. And of those only Hermione and his mother really knew their location all that precisely.

"It really is," he agreed. "I'd almost forgotten what it felt like..."

Hermione gave him a querying glance. "What?"

"Peace," He elaborated, realizing he'd not completed his thought aloud. "This is a place where our war hasn't yet touched."

Hermione smiled slightly nodding in agreement, "Hopefully it never will."

"We can hope," He agreed.

Harry couldn't help but steal little glances now and then sidelong at his best friend. Sometimes it was hard for him to fathom just how lucky he had gotten when she'd become his friend.

How many people could say they had a friend who would follow them into danger as she had? Or who would choose to join them in virtual exile? She really was something else.

Okay, so maybe that wasn't the _only_ reason he kept stealing glances at her. He had to admit, he greatly enjoyed the sight of Hermione in a bikini. Hogwarts robes had never been overly flattering, and even her more casual wear was generally not intended to showcase her figure. That swimsuit that she wore as she walked beside him though…Wow.

And in a way, that was what was troubling him. He wasn't new to the concept of finding Hermione attractive, far from it. No, what bother him was how he'd stopped himself from saying what he'd intended to back at the house.

He had _intended_ to tell her she look beautiful, but had balked at the last moment. Beautiful, a loaded word really, filled with a lot more meaning than the more neutral words friends used. Wonder, fabulous, spectacular even… But not beautiful.

He sure found himself thinking it though. He'd always known Hermione was a woman, had ever since he'd met her really. Though there had been certain times that had really pressed that fact home. Like the Yule Ball…

But for some reason he'd always pushed such considerations to the side. Why? He wondered. He was aware he was somewhat oblivious in some ways, and he certainly had plenty of things to dominate his attention, but still…

He really should have given the matter more thought he supposed, after all he basically spent all day everyday for eight or nine months for the last five years in her company.

Of course, he'd heard various terms used in reference to a woman's attractiveness. Who hadn't? Hot, well fit, babe, smoking…But the women described as such had always come across as somewhat…false, to Harry. Like their attractiveness was only skin deep or it was an act they somehow put on. Though that could just be a reflection of the particular girls he'd had occasion to meet.

That wasn't even considering the fact such terms always felt a bit diminishing to Harry. They were labels, not a genuine and heartfelt reflection of who that person was.

Hermione was beautiful, but it was an honest sort of beauty. Natural and not presumptuous, not in your face and obtrusive in the way so many girls worked so hard to achieve. Not that Hermione seemed to see herself so. But she was, beautiful, inside and out.

Regardless, he mused, it would surely do no harm for him to pay a bit more attention to his best friend for a change. Of course it was an exercise in futility over all. As he'd told Dan Granger, whatever his feelings were on the matter, she didn't feel the same way, and thus it was irrelevant….wasn't it?

It was becoming harder and harder for him to convince himself of that fact.

Harry was considering all this as the four of them walked down towards the beach in companionable silence, just basking in the sun and enjoying the sights.

That was until something darted across the road chasing a gecko. "What was that?" Kate called from behind them.

"Mongoose," Was Hermione's quick reply.

"They have those here?"

Hermione chuckled. "Yeah, apparently."

Kate laughed briefly, "Okay, well yeah, I mean obviously so right? I guess I'm just a bit surprised is all."

"Way I understand it, they're an introduced species." Hermione reported easily as the Mongoose and gecko vanished from sight in the trees. "They brought in cane plants as a crop, and that came with cane spiders and rats. They brought in the mongoose and a couple others to try and control them. Not that they had much effect on either of them."

Harry found himself smiling fondly as his friend continued rattling off little factoids as they made their way through town. Eventually crossing a road on the edge of town and crossing over some grass onto the beach.

The first thing that struck Harry was just how absurdly soft the sand was. It was incredibly fine, almost powdery, especially in comparison to the rougher sand and gravel mixes common to any of the beaches he'd been to or even heard of.

"Want to take a swim?" Harry asked, nudging Hermione as she stared almost skeptically at the sand beneath her own feet.

This served to break her out of her thoughts as she looked up and smiled eagerly. Ditching her sarong on the beach with the towels to follow after him into the water. Though he kept his shirt on, not quite free of his own self-consciousness.

"It's so warm!" Hermione said in shock as they waded out a ways. It really was too, perfect for just relaxing in.

And in the end that was exactly what the two of them ended up doing, swim back and forth through the gentle waves just enjoying themselves. Lily and Kate occasionally joining them before drifting away again.

They didn't even need to chat about anything, enjoying each other's company proved more than enough for a while, it was close to an hour in that Harry finally felt the need to speak. "Thanks again for coming with me Mione…It just wouldn't be the same without you." He murmured, eyes closed and head tilted back as he enjoyed the sun.

Had he opened those eyes he'd have seen Hermione's position mirrored his own, and a small smile now graced her lips. "You're welcome Harry. I'm glad I'm with you too."

* * *

It was close to three hours after they'd arrived before they finally decided they needed to get out and move on with their day. The beach had a few more denizens now, a pair of surfers further along, a few families and couples swimming here and there.

A man was further up on the shore line setting up a flower stand.

Harry waited patiently while Hermione and the others dried off and secured their sarongs at their hips. Eventually, reluctantly they all began to make their way back up the shore, pausing only when the man tending the flower stand greeted them amiably as they went to pass.

"The water's nice today huh?" The slightly portly polynesian man said smiling brightly.

Harry chuckled, "Yes, it is. Nice and warm."

That produced a laugh in response. "It's always warm man! But it's nice and calm today too! That's better for swimming." The man noted, before eying them curiously. "Not from around here huh?"

"No. England and Canada actually." Hermione said, smiling at the friendly man indicating Harry's sister and mother beside them.

"Ah, and how are you enjoying Hawaii?" He asked, smiling knowingly at there contented grins.

"It's like paradise," Harry said simply, getting murmurs of agreement from the girls.

The man nodded agreement, "That it is my friends!"

Harry took a moment to take a look at the man's stall. He supposed it made sense a man could make a living selling flowers to tourists around here. "You sell flowers then I take it?"

The man nodded agreeably, "Yes, great place for growing flowers Hawaii. Lots of exotic blooms you don't see elsewhere." He said seriously before looking at them. "Any chance you want one for your pretty lady? Maybe some for the others too?" He probed, any irritation caused by him asking being softened by his friendly tone and smile.

Harry nodded immediately, earning a blush from Hermione. "Yes please."

Hermione placed a hand on his arm, "Harry you don't need to—" She protested.

"How much for three of the flower necklaces?" Harry asked ignoring that with a small smile at his friend. The man named a figure, a fairly reasonable one actually and Harry started doling out some money. "Sorry it's all in pounds, I haven't had the chance to visit a bank yet to switch out for dollars.

"Not a problem man, I'm used to it. We get people from all over here." The man said handing over the flower necklaces. Harry selecting a nice one with pink and white plumeria flowers before proffering it to Hermione, who nodded allowing him to slip it over her head.

"Thank you sir," Harry said to the man as Kate and his mum also pulled theirs on.

The man waved that off easily. "No problem, you guys have a nice vacation!" He said happily, bidding them farewell.

It was a few minutes into their walk before Hermione spoke again, fingering her necklace thoughtfully. "You really didn't need to buy me flowers Harry." She murmured to him.

He nodded, he knew he didn't _have_ to after all, and considered his next words carefully. He hesitated before deciding to take the chance. "It's like the man said, flowers for a pretty lady." He said firmly shooting her a small smile.

Wow, he felt nervous saying that aloud, but judging by the pinking of her cheeks and small smile on her lips she was pleased.

Pretty, was so much less neutral than wonderful…but he was glad he'd said it.

The walk up to the house naturally took longer considering it was an uphill journey, but it was so nice out it was very hard to complain and Tinker met them at the door with drinks on a platter.

"Ah, I see you all had fun, come in come in, we have drinks!"

Lily laughed and smiled fondly at the little elf as they trooped inside. "Yes Tinker, it was lovely."

Tinker bobbed her head, grinning fondly. "You got leis for the girls I see Harry. Do you want me to put preservation charms on them tonight?"

Harry nodded, "That'd be nice, thank you Tinker."

"Excellent, now, why don't you four get changed? Me and Tot will begin supper soon." The elf promised.

"Okay, thank you." Harry said, taking a drink as the elf passed. "Tinker?" He called just before she could leave, causing her to pause and look at him expectantly. "We might be practicing some magic today or tomorrow , do you know somewhere we can work?"

Tinker nodded, "The whole property is nicely enclosed, and has a powerful set of privacy wards too." She promised him. "Outside would be better though. Wouldn't want to go blowing up the house!"

* * *

Hermione went to her room to change while the other's chatted with the elves, carefully pulling the beautiful lei Harry had gotten for her from her shoulders and laying it gently on the bedside table.

Then, noting she was still a touch sandy from her time at the beach she decided on a quick shower to clean it all off padding into the bathroom, stripping off quickly along the way. Only to pause when she caught sight of herself in the mirror.

It wasn't the sight of her scar or even the fact that she was now naked that made her stop and take note, it was the small but persistent smile on her lips that just wouldn't go away.

Thinking about how that smile had gotten there, only served to cause that smile to grow and the giddy feeling in her tummy to reignite.

It had started she supposed with Harry and her scar before they made their way down to the beach. He hadn't been repulsed, merely concerned for her sake.

Then had come their trip down to the ocean and their time there. Despite what she'd pretended she'd noticed Harry's little glances her way, and it was hard not to smile after enjoying the water here.

But Harry's words after had been what truly marked this day as a good one that she'd treasure for times to come. "Flowers for a pretty lady."

Harry thought she was pretty!

Now, Hermione did not consider herself a vain person, but even she couldn't help but feel her heart swell a little at the praise from a friend. She seldom thought well of herself, physically speaking at least. Even before the scar she hadn't thought of herself as 'pretty'. But hearing Harry say it, smiling so earnestly at her? Well she could believe it. At least for a bit.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** As ever thanks to my betas. In this case, Mordreek and the ever faithful Temporal Knight. No rec this chapter, need to sift through and expand my list again I think. Anyways, hope you all enjoy that.

*In real life the International market place no longer exists. As of about a year and a bit ago, it has sadly been replaced by a mall.


End file.
